Ann Arbor opts for more speech, not enforced silence

A group of anti-Israel protesters has demonstrated outside Ann Arbor's Beth Israel Synagogue every Shabbat since 2003. A tort lawsuit by some congregants against the protesters rightly failed. The Ann Arbor City Council last week passed a resolution "'condemn[ing] all forms of antisemitism, and in particular the weekly antisemitic rally on Washtenaw Avenue." and declaring "'its support for the Beth Israel Congregation, their guests, and all members of the Jewish Community in Ann Arbor, each of whom has the right to worship, gather, and celebrate free from intimidation, harassment, and fear of violence.'"

The Council passed the resolution on Tuesday evening, three days after Colleyville (which it does not mention), although it was in the works for several months. The synagogue had been calling on the city to do something for several years. The Council issued a resolution in 2004, a year after this began, but nothing more recent. The mayor has publicly condemned the protests and apologized to the congregation.

The resolution also "'calls upon the persons who rally to express antisemitism on Washtenaw Avenue to renounce extremism, disband, and cease their weekly show of aggressive bigotry.'” Which, that ought to do it, thanks very much, Ray. The group leader and the lead defendant is Henry Herskovitz, who I assumed was Jewish-but-vehemently anti-Israel; it seems he "identifies himself as a former Jew and has spread Holocaust denial and praised neo-Nazis in blog posts."

The Forward quotes Rabbi Nadav Caine that the synagogue declined involvement in the lawsuit out of hope and faith that the city would take a stand. That point is too bad. I had hoped the synagogue stayed out of the lawsuit because they knew the lawsuit could not and should not succeed. While they could not stop the congregants, they knew enough not to get involved.

David Super has a post about performative politics, which I may want to discuss further. Performative politics can take many forms. This resolution is one example of the form--dictum with no legal force and no likely practical force. But Brandeis might have had such performative steps in mind. Like the synagogue, the city can do nothing to stop these speakers or their speech. But they can take a public stance against those speakers and their speech as part of the public dialogue.