Ira Bleiweiss has two hobbies: taking gun practice at a shooting range and combating anti-Semitism in a peaceful way. For two years on his evening commute, Bleiweiss watched members of the Progressive Action Alliance protesting Israel with virulent signs on the bridge over U.S. 59. Although increasingly bothered by them, he did what most people would do: He silently fumed but didn't act on it.
“I didn't have to dig very deep to see what these demonstrators were about, and that was hatred of Judaism and the Jewish people rather than hatred of Israel,” Bleiweiss said. “They veil their hatred under an anti-Zionist cover, but their sayings come directly from anti-Semitic propaganda such as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.”
Then one day in March 2008, fed up with the increasingly anti-Semitic tone of the group's signage, he decided to take action against what he calls “freeway blogging.”
“If people don't have the information, if they are bombarded with lies that are repeated often enough, then those lies become credible,” Bleiweiss said. “No one was challenging this group and their misleading statements. I knew I would have to be the one to challenge them.”
The 54-year-old technology sales manager is the son of Holocaust survivors. As a longtime volunteer docent at the Holocaust Museum Houston, Bleiweiss has led groups of every religious denomination through what he calls “the story of what happens when racism, bigotry and hatred get out of control and no one does anything to stop it.”
Bleiweiss founded Bridge Houston in April 2008 dedicated to countering the public acts of anti-Semitism with a vision of standing for Israel and the Jewish people by physically showing up wherever anti-Israel and anti-Semitic demonstrations were being conducted in the Houston area.
The Bridge Houston organization of concerned citizens is growing, and as word gets around, he is receiving unsolicited donations from across the country. As a grass-roots organization without an overhead and a volunteer staff, Bridge Houston uses 100% of community donations for educational materials. These materials include fliers, signs, booklets and other costs of communication which are used to counter anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish and anti-Israel propaganda and hate-speech.
Mention of Ira Bleiweiss and Bridge Houston would be incomplete without also referring to Michael C. Duke, editor and journalist for the local newspaper Jewish Herald-Voice. It is through Duke and his newspaper that the words and activities of Ira Bleiweiss reach the rest of the community and the outside Jewish world.
On Dec. 30, 2009, Ira Bleiweiss organized an Israel support rally, during a week of local anti-Israel demonstrations, said to be “peace” protests in support of the Palestinians, but which compared Jews to Nazis and alleged that Israel was committing “genocide” against the Palestinians.
The rally was organized during the same afternoon and at the same location as an anti-Israel demonstration. The Mandell Street bridge, overlooking U.S. Hwy. 59, with its unobstructed view from below, had become a favorite site for anti-Israel “freeway bloggers” over the past two years.
For this first counter-demonstration, a group of 50 Houstonians, Jewish and non-Jewish Israel supporters, participated in the grass-roots rally. The Israel supporters waved Israeli and American flags, and carried signs that called attention to Israel’s commitments to peace and democracy, challenging anti-Israel and anti-Jewish propaganda to the contrary.
Bridge Houston members arrived earlier than the anti-Israel protesters and took over a good spot on the bridge where they could show commuters their signs promoting tolerance. “Our message of tolerance and wish for peace is unimpeachable,” Bleiweiss said. “It isn't the Jewish way to get in people's faces, but we had to take bold action without being afraid to get our own message out.”
Houston police were on site and kept the anti-Israel protesters, who arrived later in the afternoon, separate from the Israel supporters. Several anti-Israel protesters appeared confused upon seeing a pro-Israel rally at the location where they had planned to demonstrate. Eventually, they reorganized themselves and held smaller and shorter protests on nearby street bridges. Of the 100 or so people who showed up for the initial anti-Israel protest on Mandell, only 30 relocated to the other bridges.
During the Israel support rally, a black SUV, with a Palestinian flag draped across the side, drove over the Mandell Street Bridge. Slowing down in front of the Israel supporters, the driver, a young man in his late teens or early 20s, shot the group his middle finger, while blaring his horn. Police, having witnessed the act, cited the driver for multiple offenses: disorderly conduct and vehicle violations.
Bleiweiss said afterwards that “Our rally today was tremendously successful, especially since it was organized with only 24 hours notice, and had people from the entire cross-section of the community.”
“We calculated that 18,000 to 20,000 people saw our messages today – that Israel wants peace, that the United States and Israel stand together against terrorism and that local Israel supporters aren’t afraid to speak out and counter lies that are being told about Israel and Jews. Our goal was to defend Israel’s right to defend itself, and I think we accomplished this mission,” he observed.
Encouraged by the positive media coverage the Israel support rally received on all five major local TV networks that evening, but concerned about the continuing anti-Israel demonstrations in Houston, Bleiweiss said that more public Israel support is needed.
On Jan. 7, 2009, Houston’s Jewish communal organizations hosted a large Israel solidarity event at Beth Yeshurun synagogue, which drew 1,500 people.
On Jan. 10, 2009, hundreds of Israel supporters and anti-Israel protesters stood near the Galleria Houston shopping complex on opposite street corners demonstrating with signs, flags and chants, and vying for American public support.
Houston, like most other major cities across the United States and world, has seen groups organize public and private events in reaction to the conflict in Gaza and southern Israel. Local Arabs and Muslims, along with fringe-leftist groups, have staged near-daily anti-Israel protests near Houston’s Israeli consulate office, on freeway overpasses and opposite The Galleria shopping complex.
The anti-Israel protest began at 2 p.m., and lasted until after 10 p.m. At its peak, it had nearly 500 participants, most of whom donned Palestinian kefiyahs and a few of whom were masked. As with previous anti-Israel demonstrations in Houston, the Galleria protest included comparisons of Jews and Israelis to Nazis, anti-Semitic slurs and calls for the destruction of Israel.
Protest leaders took rotations in leading the crowd in angry, singsong chanting, both in English and in Arabic, from bullhorns and a portable PA-system. One of the chants advocated the complete destruction of Israel: “Palestine will be free – from the river to the sea!” [the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea]. Similar chants declared, “Free, free Palestine – Zionism is a crime!” and “The Zionist regime will fall!”
Another chant declared no interest in reconciliation with Israel: “Israel needs to know – we will never let this go!” The Arabic-language chants began with the takbir, “Allah Akbar!” and included fists pumping in the air. Houston police, in large and neutral presence, issued several citations for disorderly conduct and traffic violations to unruly protesters on the anti-Israel side. No arrests were made.
As the anti-Israel demonstration was getting underway, a female protester entered the nearby Starbucks and announced aloud that buying coffee there would support “Israeli terrorism,” claiming incorrectly that Starbucks does business in Israel.
Nearly 200 Pro-Israel supporters staged a rally cater-corner from the main anti-Israel demonstration. It started shortly after sundown, and lasted until 9:30 p.m. The Israel supporters carried Israeli and American flags, and broadcast their messages through signs and chants. Many of the signs called for peace: “Israel wants peace”; “Teach peace and love”; and “Coexistence.”
Similar signs showed support for Israel: “We love Israel, IDF and Sderot”; “Z-i-o-n-i-s-m spells democracy”; “Christians should support Israel”; and “Palestinians for Israel.” Other signs blamed Hamas and its terrorist attacks against Israel for the conflict: “We gave you land, you gave us war”; “8 years of being bombed, 7 seconds to take cover”; “Hamas tore peace to pieces”; and “This is a moral war.”
Chants from the Israel supporters included: “Israel is for peace!” “Stop the rockets!” “Free Gaza from Hamas!” and “No más Hamas!” Careful self-policing, no incitement from leaders and respect toward law enforcement authorities kept emotions and behavior under control on the pro-Israel side.
Also on the corner were three non-Jewish Houstonians, two African-American and one Mexican-American, who decided to join the pro-Israel side after seeing the demonstrations. Several other non-Jews participated in the Israel support rally, including self-identifying Christian Zionists and a Bahai man. The rally also included a rabbi.
On Jan. 16, 2009, three hundred Houstonians -, Christians, Jews, blacks and Hispanics -congregated outside the Holocaust Museum Houston to take a stand against hatred and intolerance, and to show proud American support for the State of Israel. The group was at the site to counter an anti-Israel group that had organized a demonstration outside the museum. The gathering was a grass-roots effort, co-organized by Ira Bleiweiss, Asaf Golan and Malka Levy, and assisted by Shannon Orand. This diverse group included six local rabbis, Christian Zionists, several Holocaust survivors and U.S. Congressman John Culberson, R-TX.
The local anti-Israel advocacy group, the Houston Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine, had announced that its protest across the street from Holocaust Museum Houston was an attempt to equate the recent Israeli operation against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip with the Nazi genocide of European Jewry. The anti-Israel demonstration drew 200 protesters, Arabs and fringe-leftists.
“They tried to equate what is happening in Israel as a Holocaust against Palestinians and wore concentration-camp uniforms,” Bleiweiss said. “It is the ultimate perversion of the truth.”
The Holocaust Museum Houston had no involvement in either activity, but allowed the Israel supporters and honest peace advocates to hold their silent gathering in the front parking lot, per recommendation by the Houston Police Department, and out of safety concerns for all participants. There was a sizable law-enforcement presence at the demonstrations, including HPD mounted patrol officers, bomb-sniffing dogs and video surveillance.
Congressman Culberson, in an exclusive interview with the JH-V, expressed his unwavering support for the State of Israel and for Houston’s pro-Israel community, and called the anti-Israel demonstration at The Holocaust Museum Houston “appalling” and “grotesque.”
“I am so proud to be here to stand alongside Israel, to stand out, to speak out loudly and clearly in opposition to the terrible murders and atrocities that have been committed by these killers in Hamas,” he began. “Israel has an absolute right to defend herself, just as any of us do when we are attacked. Texas would no more tolerate rocket attacks from Matamoros, Mexico, than Israel should tolerate rocket attacks from Gaza. . . . We have an absolute right to defend ourselves; Israel has an absolute right to defend herself,” he pointed out.
“And G-d bless Israel,” continued the congressman, who has represented the 7th Congressional District since 2001. “They’ve been the most loyal ally of the United States. Israel is the only nation on the face of the Earth that can say that for 100 percent of her existence, Israel has stood beside America 100 percent of the time.
Like Congressman Culberson, local Christian Zionist Dr. Richard Booker said he attended the rally to show support for Israel. “I’m here to stand in support for Israel, which values life, rather than Hamas, which values death,” he pointed out. “I’m here representing members of the Christian community around the world who stand for Israel’s right to peace and security in its rightful homeland.”
Each year, Dr. Booker hosts an interfaith memorial service to honor the memories of Holocaust victims. “You can’t just have words,” he argued. “Every year on Kristallnacht, we ask, ‘Will we be silent?’ I’m here to show that we cannot be silent, and that we must have deeds with our words.”
On June 28, 2009, a group of Christian missionaries, posing as “Jews,” violated city and state ordinances by attaching signs directly across the street from the Jewish Community Center of Houston. These signs bore messages that encourage Jews to accept Jesus as “lord” and “savior.”
Upon seeing the signs attached to the bridge, Ira Bleiweiss informed the missionaries that their signs were violating city law. The missionaries replied to Bleiweiss’ approach, saying that the law did not apply to them, Bleiweiss said. He then notified the Precinct 5 Constable office.
A constable responded to the call, but was told by the missionaries that they had a permit for the signs. After Bleiweiss determined that the missionaries did not have a permit, as claimed, he called Houston police. Before the HPD officers arrived, the missionaries removed their signs from the railing, but not before Bleiweiss took photos with his digital camera.
Bleiweiss met the officers, showing them photos and copies of the no-sign-posting laws. He also presented a letter from the city attorney’s office, indicating that the municipal ordinance will be enforced. The officers were professional and even-handed, Bleiweiss noted. They issued the missionaries a one-time warning.
The missionary group behind the signs is Beth Yeshua HaMashiach. Founded and supported by the Southern Baptist Convention, the church self-identifies as a “messianic synagogue.” Nearly every Sunday for the past several years, Beth Yeshua has sent missionaries to proselytize Jews outside the JCC. These missionaries masquerade as “Jews” by wearing kippot and giving Hebrew names to Christian concepts. They argue that Judaism is an inferior religion, made complete only by acceptance of “Yeshua” (a Hebrew name they give to Jesus).
Billboards featuring a crying child and saying “PRAY FOR GAZA,” were erected in Houston in December 2008, following the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. They were put up by a local anti-Israel organization, the Houston Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine.
On July 6, 2009, in reaction to these anti-Israel billboards, Bridge Houston had two roadside billboards installed bearing the message: “SAVE GAZA FROM HAMAS. Teach PEACE, not HATE.” The billboards picture an Arab boy and an Israeli boy, arm-in-arm, showing that coexistence is possible. The signs directed viewers to the websites, www.bridgehouston.org and www.standwithus.com, for information about Israel, Gaza and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
“It was important that we respond,” Ira Bleiweiss said. “I had to do something because I feel that there is no place in my hometown of Houston for unchallenged haters. This group has taken on a life of its own, and it has become time consuming for me, but I would rather be an ‘upstander,' and do something about the hatred, than be a bystander. The average person on the street needs to know the real facts, because they are the ones who are voting and electing tomorrow’s leaders.”
On Oct. 17, 2009, Ira Bleiweiss organized an interfaith coalition– composed of Muslim, Christian and Jew –to confront Holocaust-denier and Nazi-sympathizer David Irving. The British-born Irving, 71, had been released from an Austrian prison, after serving one-third of a three-year jail sentence for “trivializing, grossly playing down and denying the Holocaust.” Public Holocaust denial is a criminal offense in Austria and several other European countries.
Irving was on a 28-city book tour across the United States, which was promoted on neo-Nazi websites. The events had been conducted in secrecy, with organizers closely guarding venue details, banning photography, recording and media coverage, screening online ticket buyers and reserving the right to refuse admittance to anyone.
When Bleiweiss learned of Irving’s Houston date, he reached out to organizations and individuals who work against racism and intolerance. Responding to Bleiweiss’ call was Quanell X, leader of the local New Black Panther Party, who had a life-changing revelation after touring Holocaust Museum Houston in January 2008. In addition as part of the coalition were Susan Myers, executive director of Holocaust Museum Houston (NMH), and Dr. Mary Lee Webeck, education director of HMH.
Bleiweiss purchased tickets for the program, and his interfaith coalition planned to sit in the front row. “I received a message earlier today that the event was going to take place at the LaQuinta Inn near Hobby Airport,” Bleiweiss explained on Oct. 17. “But, when I arrived, there was nobody here. So, I called the phone number I was given after I bought my tickets, and the man who answered said he was David Irving, himself.
“I told him I was here, but didn’t see anybody. And, he basically said that I had been made, and that a lady from the Holocaust museum should be waiting there, as well,” Bleiweiss said.
Quanell X said: “I believe Ira has a sincere desire to bridge the gap between Muslims, Jews and Christians, and I admire his courage to go where others fear to tread.” “He has sacrificed his own safety to challenge hatred. He is doing a noble thing, the right thing, and if more people would follow his example to reach out to develop dialogue, we could stem the tide of hate.”
“My presence, here, tonight is this,” said X, who was not accompanied by his usual entourage. “I was not going to bring any security to the hotel. I wanted them to see me inside the hotel, sitting in the front row by myself. And, my presence was to say to them: You don’t put fear in me, you don’t instill fear in us.”
He continued: “They play on fear. So, I wanted to show how much we don’t fear you. We don’t have to protest you outside the building behind barricades with cops. We don’t have to have security to confront you, straight-up. We will come in, sit in the front row and look you in the face, so you know how insignificant and irrelevant you are as a threat to us. “The same people that will deny the Holocaust will deny that slavery ever existed,” X explained.
In retrospect, Bleiweiss admitted that the plan had seemed too easy. With no program to attend, Irving’s hoodwinked critics used their time together to discuss the hate-group movement and why they decided to stand together in solidarity against it.
“We came together tonight – Muslim, Christian and Jew – to stand together and say, ‘Not in our town!’” Bleiweiss said.
Speaking to X, Myers and Webeck, Bleiweiss added: “What you’ve done tonight has empowered people to stand up and speak up – people who might otherwise think, I’m afraid of these guys; I’m going to stay away from them, they’re neo-Nazis; it’s dangerous to challenge them. These guys make a living out of distorting the truth, and what we saw tonight was that they are afraid of people who will expose them for what they are.”
Bleiweiss described Jews as “the canary in the coal mine,” when it comes to hate groups and their activities: “Look at what they’re doing to the Jews, and you can see what they’re building up for virtually every other minority group. “Houstonians get along pretty well, and I don’t like haters coming to this town and creating divisiveness. We can work together to prevent this from happening,” he concluded.
Picture from left: Ira Bleiweiss (Bridge Houston), Swami Nikhilanand (Barsana Dham), Ravi Raghavan (Hindus of Greater Houston), Dharminder Dargan (Hindus of Greater Houston) and Rabbi Robert Haas (Congregation Emanu El). Photo: Rajesh Thatte
On January 9, 2011, the 1st Annual Hindu-Jewish Solidarity Day was held, hosted jointly by the Hindus of Greater Houston (HGH) and BridgeHouston (BH), with a limited guest list of only 100 vetted invitees, brought together prolific leaders, rabbis, monks, and activists from several influential synagogues, temples, and organizations in this city.
Ira Bleiweiss lauded Hindus of Greater Houston’s Ravi Raghavan for being “the driving force” in facilitating the occasion. “I’m so glad Ravi motivated me to do this. We have no interfaith connection with the Hindu community yet we have common histories and challenges that we face because of our faith. We’re also non-proselytizing,” said Bleiweiss.
“For over 2000 years Jewish people have lived in India and have never been persecuted by the Hindus. This forum will give us a better understanding of Hinduism and hopefully will be the start of something bigger and better and set an example for the rest of the nation. He added that BH and HGH are planning a joint public event later in the year in celebration of Hannukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, and Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights.
The program began with invocations in Sanskrit and Hebrew by Swami Nikhilananda of Barsana Dham in Austin, and Rabbi Steven Morgen of the Congregation Beth Yeshurun; both prayers expressed similar sentiments of cultivating friendships and of kindness to others.
Jewish guests were privy to a brief program of Indian classical dances by artistes from the Nrityasri School of Dance. Thereafter, the Hindus were invited by their Jewish counterparts to join in sprightly interactive impromptu Jewish dances; all participated with gusto.
In a well-researched presentation, Ravi Raghavan told of the migration of the Cochin Jews to India 2500 years ago where they found safe haven and assimilated into the local communities seamlessly. Quoting from Professor Nathan Katz’s book The Jewish Diaspora in Hindu India, Raghavan described a quiet community that built synagogues and lived and worked and worshipped peacefully amidst the majority Hindu populace. Later other groups of Jews settled in various other parts of India.
“Hindus and Jews are natural allies, given our 2500 year old history of harmonious co-existence in Hindu-majority India. We share prolific proclivities, strategic concerns and common challenges in the current global scenario. Today, the feedback from both the Hindu and Jewish communities has been very positive. Hindus of Greater Houston and Bridge Houston will continue to work together to improve the synergy and goodwill between our communities,” said Raghavan, who worked with the HGH team Girish Naik, Dharminder Dargan, and Vijay Pallod to put together the event.
“This was a phenomenal afternoon,” enthused journalist Micheal Duke with the Jewish Herald Voice, an authoritative publication that was started by Duke’s grandmother 103 years ago in this city. “We have so much to celebrate together, particularly 2000 years of solidarity. Our children must be taught to keep this relationship alive for another 2000 years,” added Duke.
For Jan. 16, 2012, Ira Bleiweiss encouraged participation at the Martin Luther King Grande Parade. According to Bleiweiss, “Dr. King was a fervent Zionist and, for the third consecutive year, Bridge Houston is organizing Jewish groups to march in the parade and remind spectators that MLK loved Israel.” Bridge Houston will provide signs, flags and fliers with information about Dr. King and Israel.
Further Reading:
Websites of hatred constructed by David Hobson of Minnetonka, MN
