“You Know! You Know!” So declared the self-proclaimed activist, in response to our gently asking for him to clarify what he meant when he informed us that we know what’s going on in the West Bank, what’s going on in Gaza. We politely pointed out that, no, we didn’t know, but he could not offer any more details, just repeatedly exclaiming that of course we know.
This conversation took place at our NCCI Farmers Market Booth in Carrboro, generously supported with literature and chatchkas from StandWithUs, which we finally were able to reopen after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic shutdowns. NCCI provides direct support to people from Vermont to Washington State (and many places in between) in their battles with antisemitism. These efforts include speaking directly at city council meetings, working with city councils and human rights commissions behind the scenes, mobilizing letter writers and phone callers, and various inventive forms of civil protest. However, our meat and potatoes is our farmers market presence, where we get to directly talk with people in a casual environment, educating and advocating to support Israel and the Jewish people while simultaneously taking the pulse of our local community.
Israel Lovers are Looking for Ways to Safely Talk About Their Support!
There were some notable differences evident in the people coming to our booth this year versus pre-pandemic. In previous years, we had some people stop by who were clearly Israel supporters, and some who were Israel haters, but most people seemed to know little about Israel and stopped by to pick up chatchkas and chat a bit. This year, many people who were Israel lovers stopped by the booth and wanted to talk a lot about their experiences and share their support. It’s possible that the recent surge in Jew hatred locally and nationally may be making Israel supporters more appreciative of opportunities to mingle publicly with fellow supporters. There were a couple of people who stopped by our booth who clearly were anti-Israel, including the man described above, but they were few and far between.
We already have reservations to return to the Carrboro Farmers Market in the spring and summer of 2022. Please check for the dates under the News/Events section of our website, mark your calendars, and join us at the Farmers Market…working together, we can build more understanding and support for Israel and our Jewish people!!!
