Isle group rallies support for Israel

Hawaii and Israel are on opposite sides of the world, but when it comes to matters of the heart, both stand on essentially the same ground, former Gov. Linda Lingle said at a "Pro-Israel Rally" this week at the state Capitol.

Organized by the Hawaii-Israel Alignment, the gathering was the second of three rallies slated for Oahu, Hawaii island and Maui. They were held in response to international criticism of Israel’s retaliation against Hamas rocket attacks from the Gaza strip, said the Rev. Nowlin Correa, founder of the organization. Most of the casualties have been children and innocent Palestinians, who Israel believes were used as human shields by Hamas, a radical Muslim group, he said.

The third rally will be held Thursday at the Capitol and on the neighbor islands.

During this week’s rally, participants waved signs with sentiments including "Israel has the right to defend itself" and "10,000 rockets was enough!" Correa simultaneously blew two shofars (rams’ horns), ancient Jewish symbols used in religious rites or as a call to action. Passersby honked and shouted support during the rally, held from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Lingle, a Republican who served a governor from 2002-2010 and is Jewish, described the event as gratifying and having "tremendous reception."

Lingle said she has spent much of her time lately "helping Israel and the Jewish people" as a member of the international Tel Aviv Foundation. A letter from Tel-Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai was read aloud at the rally to some 50 people, many of them from various temples and Christian churches.

Lingle credited the Hawaii-Israel Alignment for inspiring much of the support for Israel across the state.

"We are a pro-Israel group, we’re not anti-anything. We have feelings for the Palestinian children and the people of Gaza. No one wants to see innocent people killed. It’s simply not right that such a small nation (Israel) has to fight so hard to survive."

Correa said his Hawaii-Israel Alignment, founded a year ago, is an offshoot of his original group, Kehilat Hamishkan, organized eight years ago with the Rev. Kaatee Bailey. The alignment has developed into a community of about 200 Jews and Christians. Correa described himself as an evangelical Christian who felt the need to "go back to our Jewish roots" and observe traditional Jewish holidays such as Passover and Rosh Hashanah. He’s been holding Jewish Shabbat services every Friday at his Waimanalo ranch for a group of 35 regulars, assisted by David Blevins.

The alignment was formed to encourage people — including Hawaii’s congressional delegation — to "make a steadfast commitment to defend and support the Jewish nation" in the face of worsening political unrest in the Middle East via a petition.

Correa said defending Israel will invoke the blessing from God promised in Genesis 12:3: "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you."

One of the purposes of Correa’s original group, Kehilat Hamishkan, was to underscore what Hawaii and Israeli people have in common: "The Jewish people are Israel’s indigenous people and have faced similar historic challenges as the Hawaiian people to its territorial integrity and survival," he said.

One of the rally organizers, Jonathan Rotmensch, is a small business owner originally from Tel Aviv, who moved to Hawaii seven years ago.

"What we want to achieve here is love; we just want to have peace," Rotmensch said. He added, however, that Israel has to spend $86 million a year just to operate the "Iron Dome" missile defense system against rocket attacks from Hamas.

If Hamas breaks the ceasefire 23 times, "maybe they really don’t want to have peace," Rotmensch added, referring to the escalation of conflict in the past month. Palestinian residents have suffered the majority of losses in lives and property from Israel airstrikes responding to Hamas rocket attacks.

Citing a famous quote by the late Israeli prime minister Golda Meier, Rotmensch said, "We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children. We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children. We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us."

For more information on the times and locations of the neighbor island rallies, call 330-8893 or 357-3303.