As the Indian summer sun dipped low and employees flooded out the doors of Civic Center offices, a group of about 100 Middle-East peace supporters began their hourlong plea in front of San Francisco’s Federal Building.
It appeared as much a rally of solidarity as a cry for Israeli and Palestinian adherence to the Oslo Accords.
Sponsored by A Jewish Voice for Peace, Monday’s rally attracted speakers and endorsements from Americans for Peace Now, San Francisco’s Congregation Beit Tikkun, Berkeley’s Kehilla Community Synagogue, the Palestinian American Congress and United Muslims of America.
A small Berkeley-based organization, A Jewish Voice for Peace formed in response to the recent violence in Israel following the opening of a new entrance to the Old City tunnel.
“We’re denouncing the violence, the disintegration of the peace accords and reminding President Clinton of his responsibility as a co-signer,” said member Julie Iny. “We’ve always worried about Palestinians reneging on their word. We are equally worried the Israeli government will do the same.”
Participants held banners stating, “Oslo is the first step toward a better future — Netanyahu: Don’t hold us back” and “79.5 percent of Israelis support implementing the Oslo accords. So do we.”
The group’s agenda appeared one of forging ahead for peace rather than casting blame. However, most speakers and attendants placed the responsibility for keeping the accords alive upon Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
JVP member Rachel Eisner urged Clinton to pursue the following points: ensuring Jerusalem’s status quo until final-status talks, freezing settlement expansion, withdrawing Israeli forces from Hebron, keeping the Israel Defense Force out of Palestinian autonomous areas, easing border closure and promoting economic opportunities for Palestinians.
“The peace process is not a public relations tool,” she said.
Rabbi Leah Novick agreed. A peace process supporter from Carmel, Novick attended the rally to “simply send the message that American Jews are concerned.”
She added: “A Jewish presence in Gaza and Hebron isn’t realistic. I want to see [Israeli] government incentives for Jews to move elsewhere. We’ve put small groups of people in an untenable position. The government needs to help give them options to go elsewhere.”
Most rally participants offered simpler messages.
Alice Dudon, a Palestinian American from San Francisco, said she is “for the peace process. I’d like to see Jews and Palestinians move back and forth freely in the land and for Palestinians to receive the respect they deserve.”
Added Sarah Taub of Richmond: “It was a terrible shock to see the people killing each other again. It hit me hard to see the peace process had broken down so badly. Taking an aggressive stance against the Palestinians won’t settle this.”
Meanwhile, speakers like Rabbi Burt Jacobson of Kehilla Community Synagogue and Arab-American Catholic priest Labib Kobti tried to stir up the small crowd, wilting under 90- degree heat.
“We’ve come to a crossroads and crossed. The Oslo Accords have been signed. There’s no going back,” Jacobson said.
“The Palestinians aren’t going to allow the peace process to be stopped and tens of thousands of Jews and Israelis won’t allow it either.”
Rabbi Pam Frydman Baugh of Or Shalom Community Congregation in San Francisco recalled the victims of recent violence in Israel and prayed “that all those in mourning be comforted. [Pray] that they did not die in vain, but that they become the next in the layer upon layer of martyrs in the struggle for security.
“The peace accords aren’t perfect,” she added. “But they’re the best we have right now.”