Karely Molina Martinez staff writer
In light of the recent events occuring in the Middle East, many Jewish club members showed their support for Israel by attending a “sit-in” on Thursday, May 13 at the Federal Building.
Scheduled by an outside organization, many students made their way to the Federal Building on Wilshire Boulevard along with many Jewish and non-Jewish supporters of Israel. The club was able to find out about the event through Instagram.
“It was inspiring to say the least. It made me feel very happy to see so many fellow Jews and people supporting Israel,” Jewish club co-president senior Daniel Rabkin said. “Many people are misinformed about what’s going on in the Middle East. I’m just glad to know that jews and non-Jews alike, there are people out there who do understand what’s truly going on and are in support of Israel.”
Rabkin remembers the energy people carried throughout the event and how significant it was during a time like this. “It was all love at that event, and that just made me feel better,” he said.
“It was sort of, almost, a party atmosphere. People were just out there with Israeli flags honestly just having fun, playing Israeli music, showing off Israeli culture,” Rabkin said. “Just celebrating and no hard feelings about any people passing by us, you know yelling at us. A lot of people went by and cussed at us and stuff like that. We didn’t respond back; we just maintained a very happy atmosphere. At the beginning it was very protest-like, but it moved into a sort of a party atmosphere afterwards.”
Even students who didn’t attend the event recognize how important it was to them. Junior Arya Yektafar did not attend the event but understood why others did.
“I think that what drove people to attend was a common strand of unity that runs through my people. We all support the land we came from and will do whatever we can to support and defend it,” Yektafar said.
Co-president Yoni Kashani is not happy with the events going on in the Middle East and the people who are suffering because of it.
“I don’t think that any civilians, any kids, any innocent families should be targeted. What did they do?” he said.
Kashani believes all should do their part to help end this chaos.
“The Jewish Club, all Jews, all people in general have the duty of just spreading more light. Instead of fighting with guns, why not just spread more light? That way, the darkness will just disappear,” Kashani said. “Doing good deeds, helping others, all kinds of organizations, I think that’s the obligation of everybody.”
