Prior to Monday’s pro-Israeli rally on the campus of San Francisco State University, the mellifluous inflections of Jimi Hendrix’s blues guitar flowed over the loudspeaker system as the event’s student organizers passed out fliers.
During and after the lunchtime rally, however, the sounds emanating from SFSU’s Malcolm X Plaza were less pleasing to the ear. A vocal contingent of 20 to 25 pro-Palestinian demonstrators noisily protested the event, forcing the rally’s speakers to shout into their microphones and creating a tense and, at times, surreal atmosphere.
Passers-by often seemed bewildered while running the gauntlet between about 30 self-professed “pro-Israeli, pro-peace” demonstrators on one side of the plaza, wearing Israeli flags like cloaks, and pro-Palestinians on the other side, waving anti-Israeli signs and sporting shoebox-sized coffins draped in Palestinian flags.
Adam Sall, an SFSU senior and executive director of the Israel Coalition, opened the rally in the busy plaza, saying “Shalom aleinu, peace for all.” Almost immediately, he was heckled by a lone, pro-Palestinian demonstrator.
“You’ve killed thousands of Palestinian children; stop killing our children!” the man shouted while leaping and waving his arms a few feet in front of the rally’s stage. He was quickly tapped on the shoulder by a fellow pro-Palestinian demonstrator and led back to the other side of the plaza.
SFSU campus rules state that counter-protesters must stand at least 30 feet from the event they are picketing.
The reprieve was temporary, however. Within minutes, the members of the General Union of Palestinian Students broke into loud, organized chants of “Israel out of Palestine,” “No justice, no peace” and “Stop killing children.”
The din effectively drowned out the Israel Coalition-sponsored rally’s second speaker, Josh Saidoff, president of Stanford Israel Alliance. The pro-Palestinians’ loud, percussive chants rendered making complex arguments or telling long anecdotes impossible. Observers standing as close as 10 feet from the speaker system could not make out Saidoff’s words.
The rally’s keynote speaker, Israeli peace activist Ehud Nuri, was better able to make himself heard above the chanting. As he took the stage, Nuri requested 10 seconds of silence “for all the people who have died on both sides.” The flag-wearing pro-Israelis and several hundred neutral onlookers fell quiet while pro-Palestinians continued to chant.
In a forceful voice, an emotional Nuri said Mideast peace was still a possibility, but “we desperately need your help.”
“We all know what a future of war holds for us — hate, destruction, more hate and more destruction,” said Nuri. “Peace is the only future we desire. As long as you believe in it, peace is not dead.
“Who can speak of peace when 12-year-old boys are being shot through the head or Israeli soldiers are being lynched in front of the cameras?” Nuri added. “As the son of refugees from Afghanistan and Iran, I got a clear message from both parents: Always strive for a better future. I believe this is true for the Palestinian people too, but their inspirations can only be achieved by peace. Peace starts with dialogue.”
At the conclusion of Nuri’s speech, the event’s organizers took to the stage and sang several Israeli and Arabic peace songs while the pro-Palestinians continued to chant.
Participants in the pro-Israel rally — organized by San Francisco Hillel’s Israel Coalition and Jewish Students for Peace — included students from SFSU, University of San Francisco, Stanford and U.C. Berkeley.
After several minutes of singing, Sall took the microphone again and said he and Nuri would meet the leaders of the pro-Palestinian group in the middle of the plaza to shake hands. Sall and Nuri walked to the middle and extended their hands, but the counter-protesters did not budge.
Sall claims that he was showered with anti-Israeli insults, and after a few moments a security guard insisted Sall and Nuri get back on the stage.
One of the pro-Palestinian leaders dismissed Sall’s request as a meaningless gesture.
“That’s just a publicity ploy,” said Arafat Herzalah, co-coordinator of the General Union of Palestinian Students. “They always want to show people they’re willing to talk — but they have nothing to say.”
Herzalah claimed that Sall had nixed several previously arranged meetings between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian campus groups. Sall countered that the pro-Palestinians had refused to meet with his group unless he signed a condemnation of the state of Israel and Zionism.
Members of the Israel Coalition chalked up the counter-protesters’ activity as a “daily occurrence on the San Francisco State campus,” and said that after numerous anti-Israeli rallies on campus, they needed to hold a rally of their own.
“We were successful today because the entire campus got the message that the Israel Coalition stands for peace and unity,” said Sall, a psychology major. “We will not be deterred in our message of peace and unity.”
Other San Francisco Stories
S.F.-based Web bank names head of its Israel office
Roselyn ‘Cissie’ Swig tapped for U.S.-Israel commission
Doctor spearheads launch of free Jewish medical clinic
Food columnist holds classes for Chanukah
File Holocaust-era claims, read memoirs on the Web
90-year-old starts fund for staff at S.F. living facility
Where do Hebrew words come from? Kids find out
Israel travelers want others to follow their footsteps
JCC’s plans for new building get another green light
Panel says neutral reporting nearly impossible in Mideast
Other East Bay Stories
Correction
Questions linger over cancellation of Netanyahu talks
Jewish parents of special-needs kids rap, find support
Other South Bay Stories
Silicon Valley’s influx of Jews boosts 20-year-old synagogue
Torah scholars to lead three-day workshop
Other North Bay Stories
Expressive face of Cuban Jews comes to life in photo exhibition