Dovish U.S. Jewish groups plan pro-Annapolis Tuesday

Haaretz

November 26 , 2007

A coalition of dovish American Jewish organizations are to hold a Rally for Israeli-Palestinian Peace to coincide with the Annapolis Middle East peace conference on Tuesday

The rally, which will be held near a church in the Maryland city, will be jointly sponsored by Americans for Peace Now, Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, Meretz USA, Habonim Dror, Union of Progressive Zionists.

On Sunday, a march to an interfaith rally in Annapolis was called off because organizers were told local police could not spare the extra personnel needed along the route.

Organizers had planned to walk from Temple Beth Shalom to a World War II memorial overlooking the U.S. Naval Academy, where the peace conference is scheduled for Tuesday. Participants ended up taking school buses to the rally instead.

As you can see, the march didn't happen, but that is a police decision and not a synagogue decision," Rabbi Ari Goldstein of Temple Beth Shalom told participants at the memorial."

Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, president of The Israel Project, which helped prepare for the event, said authorities told organizers that there were not enough officers available to spread along the planned route. Several Anne Arundel County police monitored the flow of traffic at the memorial.

This conference is putting tremendous strain on the local security" establishment," Mizrahi said. To have so many world leaders coming here, it's quite a strain.