Glenn Beck Salutes Gush Katif

By COLlive reporter
Photos by Levik Hertzel (a Gush Katif alum)

Over 500 people from throughout the New York area gathered Wednesday in Crown Heights in support of the Gush Katif Museum in Israel.

The crowd sat spellbound in the dimly lit, elegantly decorated Razag Ballroom, as they listened to influential media personality Glenn Beck as he passionately spoke about the Holy land and its precarious situation.

Choking back tears a few times during his speech, the conservative commentator said that all “decent Americans have a responsibility to stand up for what’s right, to support Israel and its citizens.”

The former Fox News host lamented the fact the media is hiding the truth – “aiding and abetting” the terrorists and those who would harm Israel – and said he is one of the few who dare to speak the truth nowdays.

“People say I’m not afraid – but that’s an out and out lie,” he said. “I am afraid. But I’m more afraid to go against what G-d tells me to do. Afraid of what the world will be like.”

“The world is insane,” he said. “The world is in trouble.”

To loud applause Beck criticized people who claim to be just ‘anti-Israel.’ “To say that is to be anti-Jew. That’s anti-Semitism.”

IRAN’S DANGER

The dinner was organized by “SOS Israel – Our Land of Israel,” an organization headed by both Rabbi Sholom Dov Wolpo from Kiryat Gat and Rabbi Yekutiel Rapp from New York.

Other speakers included Rabbi YY Jacobson of Bais Shmuel Chabad of Crown Heights, and the evening’s MC was businessman Dudi Farkash.

Nebraska’s Jewish Congressman Lee Terry said that he has been to Crown Heights many times, and said he was proud to be attending this dinner as a friend of Chabad and of Israel.

Terry introduced former US Ambassador John Bolton, who spoke about the grave danger posed by Iran and criticized the Obama administration for not properly addressing the great threat posed by their nuclear weapons.

“From its inception, Israel has had to defend itself repeatedly,” he said. “Great powers have tried to destroy it, terrorists have attacked it.”

Still, he said, the US has imposed ineffective sanctions on Iran which have done nothing to stop them.

LIFE IN PIECES

Honored at the event were philanthropists Sholom Ber Drizin of Brooklyn and Shlomo Marcovich of Mexico for their support in remembering the Jewish settlements in the southern Gaza strip unilaterally evacuated in 2005.

Binyamin Gottlieb, former head of two schools in Gush Katif, attended the dinner as well. After the expulsion by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Gottlieb had to begin again and, five years later, he is still trying to pick up the pieces and get his life back together.

“The gezeira of our expulsion from Gush Katif was from G-d,” he told COLlive. “Therefore we are strengthening our connection to him, through increasing our learning, to try and reverse it.”

Comedian Modi had the crowd laughing, but then spoke in earnest about the plight of the children of Gush Katif, and asked the crowd to come forward and pledge to support the organization’s programs.

Dozens of dinner guests made pledges on the spot, ranging from 18,000 – $250, and were applauded by the crowd.

A video-conference message was shown from comedian Jackie Mason, also known for speaking out on political affairs and Middle East conflict.

Book publisher and philanthropist Rabbi Meir Gutnick said the dinner, organized by Fleishman productions with the Rivkin family of Kolshar AV, was one of the most inspiring dinners he has ever attended.

The Crown Heights resident has been active in Israeli causes for years, but said this dinner really stood out.

“I hope the message of tonight, that we must preserve the integrity and sanctity of the land of Israel, will resonate around the world,” he said.

“Especially now, with Bibi Netanyahu coming to New York in the coming days, we must be strong. When it comes to Israel, there can be no compromises,” he noted.