‘Overly optimistic portrait’

Your June 11 coverage of rallies in support of Israel in the wake of the flotilla projects an overly optimistic portrait of community involvement that does not reflect reality. A few protests maxing out at 2,000 or so people mean nothing in what is a rapidly escalating and sophisticated public relations campaign. Where is our leadership? Where is the rally on the Mall in D.C. that this very dangerous situation demands?

This is a war of delegitimization of Israel and, by extension, the Jews on this planet. The American Jewish community, and its allies, must put together a very public response to this delegitimizing atrocity and must do it soon. We cannot afford to repeat the non-response that took place in this country during the Holocaust. Delegitimizing Jews — isn’t that what Hitler did first?