It began with a vision and after several months of hard work behind the scenes, a lot of generosity, nervousness and even a car breakdown, San Diego’s first historic gathering of African American and Jewish American clergy was a success!
Gathering together to hear from Pastor Dumisani Washington of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel have us great inspiration and motivation. Participants in the gathering were abe to delve deep into the roots of Zionism in the Black Christian religion and culture and even take it all he way back to its roots in Africa.
Rattling off pieces of history, Dumisani Washington recounted the great successes of Black and Jewish collaboration throughout the civil rights movement from putting a stop to the lynching of Jewish Americans and Black Americans to the creation of the Rosenwald schools that educated African Americans such as r. Maya Angelou and Ambassador Julian Bond. He also pointed out how former Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver, upon learning the truth about the PLO and the Arab slaughters in Africa and wars on Israel, became a Zionist. Yes, Eldridge Cleaver left the Black Panther Party and became a Zionist.
Washington also carefully and deliberately laid out facts about Hamas, jihadists/Islamists and and their actions against both Africans and Israelis down through history through the current moment. Nothing new is happening, as he pointed out, but part of the strategy has been to keep Black Americans unaware of what is being done in Africa and turn Black Americans against Jewish Americans, Israel and Israelis.
The Playing Together Project scholar-in-residence also explained that both Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas wa part of a Russian power play. Both were KGB agents with code names and ID numbers, who helped Russia create the fiction (read: lie) of Palestine as a country and “Palestinians” as a people.
Everyone agreed, it is time for it to stop and that means joining together. We are stronger together and we are apart.
Rabbi Devorah Marcus and Rabbi Benj Fried generously welcomed us for a delicious and plentiful breakfast and some inspiring words and motivation to educate both communities so that, together, they can fight antisemitism and racism.
One wonderful things that came out of this fathering was that participants are now eager to continue the relationships, and work together on pro-Israel, pro-Zionist actions – because it is culturally, historically and biblically based.
It only take a spark, for in this case, some grits, scrambled eggs and herb encrusted salmon, to get a fire going. And soon all those around can see the fire growing. And grow, this seedling movement of justice, will.