Hundreds Rally to Urge Further Mideast Peace Talks

Showing their support for the peace process, about 600 people gathered in the San Fernando Valley on Thursday night to urge Israelis and Palestinians to resume talks.

The rally at the Bernard Milken Jewish Community Campus in West Hills was organized by Los Angeles-area Jewish organizations amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Security was tight. Police patrolled the campus and guests were required to pass through a metal detector.

As she waited for the speakers to take the stage, 13-year-old Michelle Lahat of West Hills waved a sign that read “Stop the Violence.”

Michelle said she hopes people will write letters urging their elected representatives to lend their voices in support of the peace process.

She was less specific about what should happen in the Middle East.

“It’s too complicated,” Michelle said. “But I really think they need to talk it out.”

As the rally got underway, about half a dozen people began shouting to “throw the Arabs out” of Israel. But the tone of speakers was one more of sadness than anger.

“The events of the last 24 hours show how fragile obtaining peace can be,” said Todd Morgan, chairman of the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, one of the event’s sponsors. “We are greatly saddened by the deaths of today, whether they are Jewish, Muslim or Christian. It seems our prospects for peace are dimming hourly.”

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Morgan was referring to news that as many as two Israeli soldiers and a man with them had been killed by an angry mob and that five sailors aboard a U.S. Navy destroyer docked in Yemen were killed in a suspected terrorist attack.

“I believe the peace process, at best, is stalled and, at worst, over,” John Fishel, president of the Jewish Federation, said before the rally. “I certainly hope we haven’t reached the point of no return. But given today’s actions, it doesn’t seem encouraging.”

Besides calling for peace, the event was a means for Jews to stand behind the Israeli government and to express their appreciation toward the U.S. government for its role in the peace process.

Local Arab organizations, seeking to ensure their viewpoint is heard, plan to hold several rallies in Los Angeles and Orange counties over the next few days.

“We feel there isn’t any avenue to express our voice in the political arena, so this is the only means we can do that,” said Salam Al-Marayati, director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. “This is also a chance for both Arabs and Jews to speak out against any type of backlash that could affect our two communities.”

But as the violence in the Middle East is fueled by retaliatory attacks, local leaders must have a continuous dialogue while respecting their differences, said Amir Hussain, professor of religious studies at Cal State Northridge. He added that the Jewish and Arab communities in Southern California have worked toward tolerance, but said that the finger-pointing has affected the relationship.

“There is a level of interaction that hasn’t happened here,” said Hussain, who moved three years ago from Toronto, where he said both communities actively worked together. “The rallies are one way of showing support, but at another level we have to sit down and make each other aware of what’s going on rather than laying blame on the other side.”