Israeli Government Boycotts Rallies For Victims Of Terror

Berkeley, California

Contact: David Bedein, Israel Resource News Agency, tel. +972-054 7222661

January 16th 2005

On Friday, the San Francisco Chronicle headlined the news that the
government of Israel has suspended relations with the Palestinian Authority
because it will not fight terror,

Also on Friday, consular representatives of the government of Israel in the
Bay Area announced that they would boycott the rallies against global
terrorism that have been planned by a coalition of Jews and non-Jews that
are scheduled for January 16th and January 17th, in Berkeley and in San
Fran respectively. The Israeli consulate has informed that it will not even
send a delegate to attend the event.

These rallies are being held on Martin Luther King memorial weekend, and
they will take place in the presence of the bombed-out Jerusalem bus 19,
one year to the day that Arabs blew up that bus in Jerusalem and murdered 11
passengers.

As a result, the official representatives of the Jewish organizations in the
Bay area are also boycotting these rallies, at the urging of the government
of Israel.

One of the Jewish community organization leaders, Rabbi Stuart Kelman,
echoing the concerns of the Israeli consulate in the Bay area, wrote an
open letter to the Jewish community urging that it boycott the event,
stating that "Given the recent death of Arafat, there seems to be a window
for a change of climate", and "encouraged" people to stay away from the
event.

The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs would not comment on the Israeli
government boycott of the event.