Two Community Program Build Solidarity With Israelis
April 10, 2008  |
| Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Federation board chair Leonard Barrack sign an Israel solidarity banner sent to Philadelphia's Partnership 2000 communities of Netivot and Sedot Negev.
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The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia partnered with a number of other Jewish communal organizations to present two March programs to enhance understanding of the risk of Islamic terrorist groups to Israel and other global democracies and to build community solidarity with Israelis who live with the daily threat of terrorist attacks.
On March 18, Bernard Lewis, the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University and nationally syndicated talk-show host Dennis Prager discussed "A Clash of Civilizations: The Final Jihad" at the Annenberg Center on the University of Pennsylvania Campus.
Federation co-sponsored this program with Aish Philadelphia, the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Philadelphia, Hillel, the Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy, Israel Bonds, AIPAC, the Zionist Organization of America and many other Israel-based groups in the community. During the evening, participants signed a banner expressing Philadelphia's solidarity with the people of Israel.
The banner was prominently displayed behind the podium at the "We Stand With Israel" solidarity rally, held on March 19 in Philadelphia's Love Park. Some 300 members of the Greater Philadelphia Jewish community braved the rain to show the strong ties that connect Jew to Jew in Philadelphia, in Israel and around the world. Addressing the right of Israelis to live free from the threat of terrorism were speakers Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter; Israeli Consul General Uriel Palti; Dr. Victoria Yancey, chairperson of Safe Night Philadelphia; Leonard Barrack, Federation Board chair; and Sherrie Savett, Federation trustee and attorney.
Students from the Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy traveled from Merion Station to show their love for the land and people of Israel. They danced the hora, sang Israeli songs and carried signs expressing the sentiments of their fellow rally participants: Am Yisrael Chai -- "The people of Israel will live!"
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