Gavin Newsom Goes to Israel

Some of the anti-Israel, anti-Zionist rhetoric in the San Francisco Bay Area is simple anti-Semitism, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post Sunday.

Newsom, in the country for four days as part of a large San Francisco Jewish Community Federation delegation, said he expected to see some people protesting against his trip here when he gives a commencement address next week at San Francisco State University.

The university was the site of some of the ugliest anti-Israel protests in the US during the second intifada, with some pro-Palestinian protesters chanting "Hitler didn't finish the job" and "Die, racist pigs" at a pro-Israel rally in 2002.

Asked how he answered his constituents who argue he should not be visiting Israel at a time when it is "oppressing the Palestinians" and "bombing Gaza," Newsom said, "I think of the old adage, 'Seek first to understand, then to be understood.'

"To those who make that assertion, I would like to see it backed up in the context of the capacity of understanding. I think there is a lot of bias and bigotry, and frankly a lot of anti-Semitism," he said. "I hear it a lot; not as much, thank God, as probably some other mayors in other cities, in spite of the reputation of the Bay Area. But it still exists, it absolutely still exists."

Sitting on a stone ledge at the entrance to Yad Vashem, which he was about to enter for the first time, Newsom said he "absolutely" believed some of the anti-Israel speech emanating from his city was anti-Semitic, and that Israel faced a "generational challenge" in the US.

"I see a new generation of younger people who don't have a connection to this country that they should," he said, adding that he has seen an increase in the phenomenon on college campuses over the last five to 10 years.

As to how to combat this, Newsom said, "That's one of the reasons I came here - I think it sends a message."

This was not one all his constituents would like, he said.

Newsom spent Saturday touring Jerusalem's Old City, and said that he - a mayor of one of America's most diverse cities - was struck at the diversity of the ancient quarter.

"It is a remarkable microcosm that you have so many faiths, and so many people from so many conceivable walks of life living there, across their differences, in such a small area," he said. "It is an extraordinary thing, and kind of gives me a sense of optimism in spite of all the consternation and stress that is usually associated with the Middle East."

Newsom said that by seeing the relative quiet of the Old City and the greenery of Jerusalem he was gaining a perspective of Israel not available to most Americans.

"I can assure you that these are not the regular images of Israel," he said. "For most Americans it is usefully violence, stress, frustration, angst, political issues - that is the narrative that we get.

"But this," he said with a sweep of his hand of the scenery around Yad Vashem, "is a little different."

While there have been some boycott and divestment motions against Israel in Berkeley, situated across the bay from San Francisco, Newsom said this issue had not gained much traction in his own city council.