Hundreds of local pro-Israel supporters turned out Monday night, Apr. 1, in front of Congregation Shomrei Emunah to counter a rally billed as a “Vigil & Protest Opposing Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinian Land.”
The rally was organized by the Maryland office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Baltimore chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace and American Muslims for Palestine.
The groups claimed that Shomrei Emunah — an Orthodox synagogue located in the Cheswolde neighborhood that features a front lawn sign with photos of hostages held by Hamas — was hosting a seminar presented by a Jerusalem-based real estate company to educate prospective customers about buying homes in Israel.
The Baltimore Police Department reportedly deployed 80 officers to keep the peace at the rally, at which protesters were openly hostile toward each other and traffic on Greenspring Avenue was frequently disrupted. The local patrol group Shomrim of Baltimore was also present at the rally.
While pro-Israel supporters chanted ” Antisemitism, Go Home” and “Bring Them Home,” anti-Israel protesters — some wearing kaffiyehs — shouted “Free Palestine.”
Among those in attendance was Baltimore City Councilman Yitzy Schleifer (D-5th), who said to WBFF-TV about the anti-Israel protesters, “This is just a facade and a front for them to bring this antisemitic rhetoric and behavior to a synagogue, and that’s completely unacceptable.”
On social media on Tuesday morning, Apr. 2, Rabbi Yisrael Sruli Motzen of Ner Tamid Greenspring Valley Synagogue posted, “I had to choke back tears a number of times last night. For such antisemitism to be on proud display in our own living room? To recognize that that what we saw last night is representative of a movement sweeping through the U.S.? To experience such blind hate and blatant lies in Pikesville? Where is this country heading?!
“While there are many appropriate comparisons to be made to the early years of Nazi Germany, there is one significant difference — government officials and a police force protecting us,” he wrote. “Like we experienced last night, may our prayers of freeing the hostages and peace overcome their shouts of hate and lies. May the hostages, our brave soldiers, and the entire world go from darkness to light.”
(Photo by Robyn Stevens Brody)
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A Norfolk native, Frankle worked at Sinai Hospital, Camp Airy and privately for five decades.
Esther Greenberg, Leora Match, Kathlleen St. Villier Hill and Ben Gershowitz will be recognized for the contributions to the community.
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