European Jews to protest in Brussels

[NewsGuy]

From Haaretz (http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=169193&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0):

European Jews to protest in Brussels

Thousands of Jews from across Europe are expected to gather Tuesday in Brussels, capital of the European Union, to protest against the current wave of anti-Semitism and to express their support for Israel.

The demonstration is being organized by the European Jewish Congress, the umbrella organization of the European Jewish communities. The demonstrators will carry placards reading: "Terror is the same in New York, Karachi, Djerba or Tel Aviv."

Tomorrow's gathering is an indication of the renewed awakening of European Jewry after years of political apathy, according to Dr Avi Becker, secretary of the World Jewish Congress. He said thousands of Jewish students, as well as representatives of the large factions in the European parliament, would also attend the rally...

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Finally the Europeans who are honest with themselves are waking up. More power to them.

[L@mplighterM]

I wish them good weather and a strong back wind.

[Vic]

It's not that simple, NewsGuy. You should distinguish between "Europeans" and "European Jews". The former will hardly wake up, even after they'll get a couple of skyskrapers banging down on their heads, the latter have been pretty much awake for some time now.

The trouble is, it's not the US down here. In most European countries, Jews make up something between 0,1% and 1% percent of the population, which means that if the demonstration should measure up to the anti-Israel rallies of the last months, the demonstrators must come in literally from the whole continent. Yet, AFAIK, the organization seems to be horrible. There was little advance notice, which means that many of the potiental participators had no chance to take a day or two off their jobs, book flights or trains and hotels other than for prohibitively high short-term tariffs. Most Jewish communities have little financial and other resources and can hardly support such extravagancies. I suppose some of them did do a bit of organizing on their own, but AFAIK again, the organizers never bothered about group travel and accomodations.

The news of this demonstration have been more or less slammed dramatically in everyone's faces with an unequivocial demand to attend it no matter what. There is a lot of heated rhetoric of the "it's about Israel's survival" and "we have to send a signal to the whole world" kind, yet I strongly doubt that "the world" will take much notice and that this demonstartion is precisely what Israel's survival depends upon. There is no need to try to impress on everyone's mind a feeling of guilt for the inability to attend it. I've witnessed a heated debate on it in a Jewish internet chat with several Israeli participators, apparently recent olim from Europe, coming close to accusing anyone who wouldn't go there of not giving a damn about Israel's survival and a lady from Vienna almost screaming (as far as it goes under the conditions) back that the trip would cost her close to half of her monthly salary - just to give you an idea of how things run here (and Vienna is still not so far away from Bruxelles, think Rome or Athens). With due respect to the issue at stake, no one should seriosly expect every individual Jew to hop on the next plane just at a snap of a couple of Jewish dignitaries' fingers.

The demonstration is to me a dreadfully inefficient affair anyway, which like all megalomaniac projects is bound to leave a pathetic impression on its presumed target audience, "the world". The resources would have been much better invested in creative, targeted and professional PR work back home. I haven't so far been able to solve the riddle of the Jewish/Israeli uncompromising resentment of it.

[cerulean]

Vic, you have some very good points. It's a shame there wasn't more advance notice.

I will offer this perhaps useless suggestion at this late date:

http://www.ryanair.com/

I have to say that I have never taken it, and I read online that there have been schedule problems, but the prices at least seem cheap. This option was recommended to me for intra-European travel. (I may be making a fool of myself by this suggestion, but here goes!)

[Vic]

Thanks, cerulean :)

[Vic]

Just what I thought: not a single mention of it in the local media...

[Morpheus]

Some "security-agents" were arrested because they carried arms with ammo. Anyway, the EU will probably become more pro-Israeli in the future, after the latest NATO-summit in Italy. Berlusconi stands with Bush. The Axis Rome-Washington :D