Saturday, July 11, 2026
Report on Beth Israel vigil 07-04-26
1A Rights under combined attack from local government plus media
Ann Arbor City Council is at it again. Right before the long 4th of July weekend, they snuck an amendment into the agenda for the July 6 meeting. The amendment is titled “Resolution to Strengthen Police Training, Police Planning, and to Develop Amendments to City Code to Protect Places of Religious Worship”, and the text can be found here.
Select quotes:
Whereas, An Ann Arbor synagogue has been the target of antisemitic picketing for two decades;
RESOLVED, That City Council directs the City Attorney to bring forth for City Council’s consideration an amendment to Ann Arbor City Code, Chapter 108, Section 9:62(7) to explicitly prohibit disturbance of the peace at places of religious worship; and
RESOLVED, That City Council directs the City Attorney to bring forth for City Council’s consideration an ordinance amendment designed to replicate the effect of Penal (PEN) CHAPTER 40, PART 3, TITLE N, ARTICLE 240 § 69 of the Code of the State of New York to prohibit criminal interference with access to a place of religious worship.
Easy, peasy: merely send out a Sayan (Google “Sayanim”) to cause trouble (like they did last Saturday, see video here), call the cops, tell them to run sirens and lights (four cars, 1 officer on bicycle) and bingo! you’ve got your disturbance of the peace. Then use the resolution to sweep the sidewalks clean of truth urchins like us. AAPD Case No. 26-33314.
Second Tap – Media Compliance
To put the finishing touch on this attack on our free speech rights, enter MLive reporter Ryan Stanton. He publishes his article on this Council-approved resolution to quash open discussion by quoting the Mayor, the Mayor Pro-Tem and two Jewish women wringing their hands about our exposure of Jewish supremacism. But no recent quotes from us, despite two emails explaining how things have changed in the past six years: that world opinion has turned on Israel, that the genocide in Gaza has been documented by many human rights sources, that our street approval rating is 3:1 at a minimum every Saturday, and that more politicians like Zohran Mamdani are winning elections on anti-Israel platforms. But Ryan recognizes he must protect his phony-baloney job, so he appeases his masters and doesn’t confuse their issue with facts.
Stanton’s article is found here but has a paywall. So, we’ve added the text from his article below signature for all to read
Scorecard
Date/For-Against
28-Feb 55-5
7-Mar 41-9
14-Mar 48-11
21-Mar 65-5
28-Mar 32-2
4-Apr 55-16
11-Apr 57-15
18-Apr 46-7
25-Apr 44-11
2-May 45-9
9-May 48-9
16-May 46-13
23-May 25-8
30-May 34-8
6-Jun 63-17
13-Jun 35-10
20-Jun 44-7
27-Jun 45-7
4-Jul 33-11
11-Jul 42-7
Henry Herskovitz
Witness for Peace
Jews Out of Palestine – Free Palestine!
Jews Out of Washington – Free America!
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Text of Stanton article:
Citing synagogue protests, Ann Arbor aims to adopt new law to protect places of worship
• Updated: Jul. 07, 2026, 12:13 p.m.
• |Published: Jul. 06, 2026, 10:12 p.m.
By
• Ryan Stanton | ryanstanton@mlive.com
ANN ARBOR, MI — Ann Arbor officials are considering city ordinance changes to explicitly prohibit disturbance of the peace at places of religious worship.
Citing anti-Israel protests outside the Beth Israel synagogue on Washtenaw Avenue that have been happening weekly since 2003, City Council voted 9-0 Monday night, July 7, to approve a resolution calling them antisemitic and directing the city attorney’s office to take action.
Council is specifically asking for an ordinance to replicate the effect of a New York law that prohibits criminal interference with access to places of worship. That includes knowingly or intentionally engaging in conduct, within 50 feet of a place of worship, that causes anyone seeking to enter or exit to reasonably fear for their safety.
The ordinance will be drafted with care, Mayor Christopher Taylor said. It won’t prevent protest and hateful speech, but it will give the city a new tool to counteract conduct that creates reasonable fear, he said, and it will be an important step forward.
Members of Beth Israel, where protests regularly coincide with Saturday morning services, urged council to approve the resolution.
The resolution calls on the city administrator to develop a plan to respond to public protests that involve violations of local or state law at places of worship while preserving and protecting rights to free speech and assembly. That may include security perimeters or other methods of physical separation and deescalation at entrances, exits, parking lots and driveways.
It also calls for strengthening training of city police and other employees on local, state and federal laws and the distinction between hate crimes, discrimination and First Amendment-protected activity, as well as cultural sensitivities.
Ann Arbor attorney Sharon Sorkin, whose family attends Beth Israel, called it a critical step. She noted attacks on various places of worship around the U.S., including the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield that was targeted in March.
“An armed man drove an explosive-laden vehicle into the doors of the synagogue where over 100 preschool children were attending,” she said. “By some miracle, all children survived.”
She told council her family is preparing to celebrate her daughter’s bat mitzvah this fall and bracing for their out-of-town guests being confronted by protesters.
In the context of the violence that has happened elsewhere, she expects many will feel threatened, nervous and unsettled and rightly wonder what safeguards the city has in place to ensure the protest does not turn violent, she said.
She wants to be able to confidently tell them Ann Arbor takes the matter seriously, she said, and the steps the city will be taking will give Ann Arbor police clear guidance on the line between lawful protest and unlawful disruption.
Taryn Gal, whose family also attends Beth Israel, urged city officials to listen to Jewish residents, take their concerns seriously and respond before harms become tragedy.
When her daughter celebrated her bat mitzvah, they had to prepare an email warning guests to expect protesters and that’s not something any parent should have to do, she said.
“It was a reminder that this is not normal. It has been normalized in Ann Arbor and that scares me,” she said.
Gal said she has begun taking personal security precautions for her family that she never thought would be necessary. She has spent countless hours thinking about safety, and the mental burden has become part of practicing her faith, she said.
“It changes how I experience being Jewish in Ann Arbor,” she said.
Whether or not the protesters outside her synagogue intend violence, with messages like “Jewish power corrupts” they’re setting the tone for violence, she said.
“We are noticing it. We are reporting it. We are asking our city to take those concerns seriously,” she said.
Another member of Beth Israel filed a lawsuit in 2019 challenging the protests outside the synagogue, but the courts upheld the demonstrations as constitutionally protected free speech.
Protesters have carried signs with both anti-Jewish and anti-Israel messages, including calls to stop U.S. military aid to Israel and end violence against Palestinians. Local resident Henry Herskovitz has been the longtime leader of the small gatherings and says they’re not antisemitic and not blocking anyone from coming or going from the synagogue.
Beth Israel has the power to end the protests with one sheet of paper signed by the congregation’s board supporting Palestinian rights, Herskovitz previously said.
He also has said he wants the congregation to commit to work for an end to occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem and to work for the rights of Palestinians to return to homes from which they were forcibly removed.
Monday’s resolution was sponsored by Taylor, Mayor Pro Tem Travis Radina and Council Members Jen Eyer, Cynthia Harrison and Jenn Cornell.
Radina, who was absent, shared a statement ahead of the meeting. For far too long, worshippers at places like Beth Israel have faced sustained protest, intimidation and harassment simply while trying to practice their faith, he said.
“That cannot be accepted as normal or inevitable,” he said.
In light of antisemitic and Islamophobic attacks at places of worship nearby and around the country, he’s proud to co-sponsor a resolution directing the city to strengthen police training and policies, ensure existing laws are consistently enforced, and work with faith communities to coordinate on security and protect safe access to places of worship, he said.
The right to free speech and peaceful protest is fundamental, Radina said.
“So is the right to practice one’s faith without threats, intimidation, violence, or unlawful obstruction,” he said. “We can and must protect both — and our city has a responsibility to act when protected expression crosses the line into unlawful conduct.”
Taylor said he’s grateful to the faith communities who have worked with him and council on the issue.
“In America, devolving as we fear we are, expressions of hate and othering all too often find themselves outside places of worship,” Taylor said. “And in Ann Arbor, we know that this is commonplace.”
The city obeys the First Amendment, but also knows speech can create fear and be a prelude to conduct, and intimidation by speech is not protected, he said. He described council’s action as an effort to support congregants and stand against hate.
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