In Their Silence, They Spoke Loudly
A silent protest for the hostages taken on October 7th accompanied Westport’s annual jUNe Day celebration.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Westport has been celebrating jUNe Day for over half a century. This town’s paradigm of tolerance, inclusion acceptance of everyone regardless of their race, creed, color, sexual preference, and generally their political perspective is bedrock principal here. This year was no exception however it was the first year that such a large group of perhaps 100 people respectfully confronted in public, the UN’s position on the horrific events of October 7th in Israel with which we are all familiar.
And in keeping with the tone of civility which is also a part of Westport’s heritage for much or all of the time we have been celebrating people of all nations on jUNe Day, this year was a little different. Protesters challenging how the UN has addressed the hostage crises gathered alongside the sluice for the Great Duck Race and spoke loudly, not with megaphones and clever chants, but with posters, flags, and T-shirts including several a stark and bold hashtag message, “#END JEW HATRED” which, when Googled brings you to the website EndJewHatred.com where their banner reads “Justice For The Jewish People”. What started as a small group of folks when the word went out turned into a large demonstration of unity and solidarity between the people of Westport and beyond, with the people of Israel in their silent, yet very loud cry for the end to the hostage crises.
Below are the comments of one of the organizers, Dori Bomback who provided them to WestportLocalPress. They are Ms. Bombacks views and are not a statement by WestportLocal :
“A few of us have organized a silent protest rally against this year's invitation of UN employees for jUNe Day. We will be partnering with the CT chapter of #EndJewHatred. The rally will be taking place in the morning during the breakfast and welcome speeches. It will be SILENT out of respect to the town and some of the superfluous events taking place tomorrow. Selectwoman Tooker and DPC Paulson are completely aware of our intentions. I do not know how big or small it will be. We will be holding up signs and wearing t-shirts.
We are Westporters. We are Westport neighbors who support the town's economy. We are Jews. Maybe some of us are non-Jews. We are Zionists. We are parents.
Maybe some of us have college students who are facing extreme anti-semitism on their campuses.”
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
Bomback continued, “We are angry about the UN's egregious bias against Israel and the fact that our tax dollars are being used to host representatives of the United Nations, particularly this year, after the horrific events of October 7, and the consistently glaring antisemitic/anti-israel efforts to delegitimize the only Jewish state. Here is a little context for you to understand better what we are protesting.
The UN has done nothing to release the remaining 116 hostages, representing 54 different countries— not just Israel, over the last nine months. The UN was silent on the rape and sexual violence used against Israeli women on 10.7 for months. Staffers of the UN agency of UNRWA were directly involved in the 10.7 Hamas attack and subsequent murder and kidnapping of Israelis. The UN will still not condemn Hamas using its name. The UN singles out Israel with resolution after resolution while countries like N. Korea and Iran are barely sanctioned. And, finally, the preposterous false charges of genocide against Israel are meritless, counterproductive and hypocritical.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
We understand that jUNe day has gone on here for 50 + years. We understand that in its inception, it was not meant to be a political statement or event, however, today, the UN is a highly politically divisive organization and inviting their employees to our town for a day in the sun is simply no longer acceptable to us. Sometimes, the status quo needs to change and just because we’ve operated one way for 50 years, doesn’t mean it’s appropriate going forward. We are all for international hospitality, but we should be hosting an organization that stands for universal equality for all.”
Westport Gets Ready For jUNe Day 2024
Dozens of flags from all around the world fly on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge in welcome for the UN officials and staff who will be in town on Saturday June 29th for Westport’s annual jUNe Day celebration.
Photos By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.
The UNA Southwestern Connecticut Chapter and the Town of Westport for the 59th time has invited our friends from the United Nations Staff and Missions to be our guests in Westport for a day of summer fun! This tradition was started in 1965 and we’ve never missed a year.
The Great Duck Race And jUNe Day Returns On Saturday
Sunny, the giant Sunrise Rotary Duck has taken his place at Jesup Green to promote Saturday’s Great Duck Race. A lighted sign display reminds folks that there will be no parking on June 28th night and all day the 29th as the Jesup Green parking lot will be the site for all of the vendors, exhibitors and booths for family activities for the day.
Photos and Story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com
On Saturday June 29th Westport once again hosts UN dignitaries from all over the world for jUNe Day and The Great Duck Race and Family Fun Faire, which runs from 10:00 AM until 2PM.
Remarks will be given by UN dignitaries at 10:30 to open the jUNe day activities.
The big race will be held at 1:00 PM and the lucky winners will be awarded the first place prize of $5,000, second pace prize of $1,000, with $500. being awarded to the 3rd through 10th place finishers.
About the Great Duck Race:
Helmed by Steve Violette, the Great Duck Race was initiated in 2009 as a trial to see if a duck race would work in Westport. The event was a smashing success, nearly doubling expectations for money we were able to raise for charity.
Every year, the Race generates tens of thousands of dollars...all of which is distributed to local and international charities!
See a list of recent charity recipients here: WestportSunriseRotary.org
To see WestportLocal’s coverage last year of the Great Duck race click here: 14th Annual Great Duck Race
To see last year’s coverage of jUNe Day, click here: jUNe Day: When The World Comes To Westport
Longshore Lunch Al Fresco
This little brown rabbit came out of the woods in the afternoon near the Longshore Sailing School to dine in a delicious field of grass and clover, which rabbits do enjoy. Rabbits often avoid being seen in plain sight in open areas for fear of predators such as hawks.
Perhaps this little one was feeling confident as he was enjoying his lunch in the shadow of one of the two Osprey platforms at Longshore, both of which are occupied by a nesting pair. The male is very active, and the second platform further down the exit road also has an active nesting pair. The formidable Osprey presence at Longshore probably discourages hawk activity as Osprey are not eager to share their space wth other raptors.
Photos By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com.