Israeli Flag To Fly High in L.A.
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
A ceremony outside Israel’s diplomatic headquarters in Southern California will literally stop traffic on the day before Rosh Hashanah.
In a first-of-its-kind celebration in North America, Israel’s Los Angeles consulate will raise the country’s blue-and-white flag outside its Wilshire Boulevard office September 28, shutting down two blocks of the famous thoroughfare as part of a celebration featuring L.A.’s mayor, Antonio R. Villaraigosa; representatives of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and a performance by Grammy-winning singer Macy Gray. The celebration will mark the first time the flag will stand outside an Israeli consulate in North America, said Yaakov Dayan, the country’s consul general in L.A.
“When I came [to the Los Angeles consulate] less than a year ago, one of the first questions I received was, ‘Why don’t we have a flag outside?’” Dayan said. “I decided there’s no better year than Israel’s 60th anniversary to raise the flag. Once we received all the permits, we decided to have a huge community event.”
In addition to the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony and students from the city’s Jewish day schools, participants in the ceremony will include representatives of L.A.’s Latino community and of Mormon and evangelical churches, and officials from dozens of other consulates in L.A.
Villaraigosa, who, according to Dayan, will help host the event, received the new flag earlier this year from Israeli President Shimon Peres, who presented it to Villaraigosa during the mayor’s trip to Israel in June.
Rising alongside the Star of David will be a state flag delivered by California National Guard members who are dispatched by Schwarzenegger, and an American flag previously flown at the U.S. Capitol building and brought to the event by California Rep. Howard Berman. Gray, the rhythm and blues vocalist who is best known for her raspy voice and who won a Grammy in 2000 for her hit “I Try,” will sing America’s national anthem, a performance that follows her first-ever concert in Tel Aviv earlier this year. “She’s volunteering her time,” Dayan said. “It’s greatly appreciated.”
Israel’s flag flies inside the country’s embassy compound in Washington, D.C., and can be viewed from the 12th-floor offices of the country’s consulate in New York City. The L.A. consulate will be the first of Israel’s 14 North American outposts marked with a flag in an open space, Dayan said.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
