Israel Action Day

A day full of technology mishaps and heightened security!

An enlightened statement by Saratoga High sophomore, Ali Samuels, speaking about a two-week teen trip to Israel:

“Being a jew in Israel means being strong and sometimes tough.” Well-said Ali.

The Consul General of Israel to the Pacific Northwest, David Akov, endured poor sound quality when giving his update on the crisis (former crisis now, fingers crossed). He had just returned from the Holy Land, and saw first-hand what happened there.

Our problems are not going to stop with the ceasefire, he warned. “We will be in some kind of conflict either on the ground or in the media.”

I second that. A lot of Israel supporters and Israelis are afraid to be vocal, as if were a bad thing to supprt you country and people!

In an interview after the speech, Akov said the key is to get the moderate Arabs to effect change in their own countries. Let's start with expressing our disbelief at the arrest of a Lebanese man for chumming it up with some Israeli soldiers. Maybe he thought they were nice.

I saw a lot of the who's who of South Bay Jews, including Oy-Bay.org blogmaster "Oyster" and a friend (hat tip to you sir) and all the new friends I made at Congregation Sinai.

Diane Fisher, a strong presence and leader in Israel action and executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, was, as usual, directing traffic and orchestrating everything in general.

Best of all, however, was journalism guru and Supreme Master (now I'm just kissing up) Jerry Ceppos who instructed concerned citizens on how to write effective letters to the editor.

Of course, I crudely promoted myself and probably talked his ear off, but he had the job I want, so why not try to pick his brain?