Philadelphia Passes Its First Pro-Pal Protest Test
On a Sunday afternoon when hundreds of thousands showed up in Amsterdam to protest Israel, a smaller but perhaps no less dramatic protest took place in my city, Philadelphia. Publicized as a “Boycott Bike Ride”, organizers planned to ride around Rittenhouse Square, on of the City’s most prestigious areas, demanding a boycott of six Jewish-owned restaurants that they claimed were “Zionists”.
Unlike cities like London or Toronto, that have not only tolerated such demonstrations but even possibly encouraged them, Philadelphia – and Philadelphians – refused to bend the knee to the pro-Palestinians. We did the opposite. The entire community rallied around the restaurants, providing them with some of the best weeks they ever had. Most of the City political leaders, including Mayor Cherelle Parker, issued public statements in outrage about the bike ride and supporting the Jewish restaurants. Numerous non-Jewish Philadelphians joined in the chorus in support of the restaurants, and unlikely people such as baseball Hall-of-Famer Reggie Jackson, a Philadelphia native, expressed revulsion at the hate mongering implicit in the Boycott Ride.
On Sunday, November 8, as the ride approached at noon, City dwellers turned Rittenhouse Square into an Israeli Street Festival. Lines spread out-the-door of some of the “boycotted” restaurants, and Israeli music blared into the square. On the streets, hundreds of Israeli flags were passed out, Israeli memorabilia was sold and Israeli pride was honored.
Unlike their counterparts in New York, London or Toronto, the Philadelphia Police Department was taking nothing from the pro-Pals. The PPD came out in force, would not allow the bike protesters to get out of hand, and stepped in quickly when any of the protestors tried to incite the counter-protestors, who far outnumbered the pro-Pals on wheels. After failing to intimidate the pro-Israel crowd, the protestors were forced to cut their protest short and retreat, claiming that the situation was “too dangerous”.
Perhaps we have reached an inflection point. For the first time, pro-Palestine protestors and thugs could not intimidate the pro-Israel forces, and the local political establishment and police department did not support the Palestinians. The Jews of Philadelphia and their supporters stood their ground, out-organized the pro-Palestinians, came out in greater numbers than the pro-Pals and turned the “Boycott Ride” into a pro-Israel celebration.
Will the Jews of New York City follow Philadelphia’s lead? How about Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami or Toronto? Perhaps it is time for the Jews of North America, and the rest of the world, to take matters into their own hands and to confront directly the forces who believe that it is immoral for Jews to have their own State. With Europe convulsing into possible Civil War and with a world as fluid as it is now, the time may be ripe to chart a new course for the pro-Israel community. It is time to stand up proudly for ourselves and our brothers and sisters in the one Jewish State, and to make it clear to those who want Israel destroyed that we will not sit back and cower as they try to intimidate us with their hate.
