By Joel Magalnick, JTNews Correspondent
Though much more crowded than usual, Seward Park was the Jewish community’s place to be on Sunday.
“It was a perfect setting, and perfect weather,” said Albert Israel, event chair for the Israel Solidarity walk around the park on Sunday afternoon.
Between 1,250 and 1,500 members of the greater
Seattle community attended the afternoon demonstration in support of the Jewish State, which began with words from Sen. Maria Cantwell and Consul General Yossi Amrani. Area rabbis Moshe Kletenik, Philip Rice and Jay Rosenbaum each led prayers for Israel, then Rabbi Jim Mirel led the crowd with Hatikvah, Israel’s national anthem. Barry Goren, Executive Vice President of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, led this country’s national anthem.
The afternoon ended with Jewish music and hot dogs.
“We were hoping for an event that would bring together all components of the community: Conservative, Reform, Orthodox, and all political persuasions,” said Israel. The purpose of the walk was to “transcend and set [differences] aside and come together for a demonstration, and we were very successful.”
The Federation put the walk together with the help of several area organizations.
People of all ages, many with dogs in tow, came with different ideas on how they support Israel. But everyone came with that similar belief: support of the Jewish State.
Goren said any number of possibilities, from bad weather to lousy turnout, kept him awake for the nights before the walk, but in the end, “I felt like we did a very good thing for the community,” he said.
Julian Judelman of Seattle said he was walking for his son, who is currently in Israel. He said he wanted to add his voice to the numbers.
Clive Brazg of Mercer Island was there “to support Israel. I wanted to be part of the support system and show our support in numbers,” he said. He added that he hoped by being there, it could spark more interest into promoting the peace process.
Jerome Chroman of Seattle, dressed in bright colors and a small Israel flag sticking out of his belt loop, rattled off a list of peace organizations with which he is involved, and mentioned he has a sister who lives on a kibbutz.
“I’m in support of the people of Israel,” Chroman said, “but I’m not against anyone.”
“I wanted to show that I support Israel,” said Ceecee, who did not give her last name. Ceecee said she is a Jewish Christian, and found out about the walk from Beit Tikvah Church, which had advertised the walk in its newsletter. Though she said that she is not anti-Palestinian, “supporting suicide bombings really disgusts me.”
Norma Luciano, who lives “right up the street” in the Seward Park neighborhood, walked proudly with an Israeli flag in one hand and a handmade sign in the other stating, “Thank you Israel for making the world a safer place for everyone!”
Though Luciano pointed out that her support for the Jewish State was obvious, she gave another reason to bring a bunch of Jews together in a park on a sunny day: “It’s Lag B’Omer!” She was referring to the 33rd day of the Omer, when according to Jewish law celebrations and even weddings are allowed during the otherwise somber period.
Brian Howard of Puyallup carried with him a large flag of Jerusalem, “the only place on earth where God’s name dwells,” he said.
Helene Azose said her son David, a senior at Northwest Yeshiva High School, had just returned from his first visit to Israel on the March of the Living trip. “He’d never been there before,” she said. “It was a very emotional experience.”
Though many cities do solidarity marches annually, this is the first time in recent memory that Seattle has held one. Organizer Israel said that because the response was so great, he had already talked to the walk’s sponsors about turning it into an annual event. The Federation’s Goren said that was a possibility, but nothing has been decided yet.
One worry for a march such as this was protestors. Police officers were on hand in case of any problems, but they had an uneventful day – nobody came to counter-demonstrate. Because the walk didn’t take place in a more central area such as Seattle Center, “it might not have drawn the ire of the groups that would normally protest,” Israel said.
He said in addition to the possibility of anti-Israel protestors, there was some worry about “those that are more vocal about opinions that are on either fringe causing a little bit of a problem, in that some of their comments or signs or t-shirts might have been inflammatory.” He said those fears were unfounded as well. “From that standpoint it was smooth sailing,” he said.