(IsraelNN.com) Sunday saw two rallies in America in favor of an undivided Jerusalem. Demonstrators made their feelings known to the 3,000 attendees at the annual United Jewish Communities General Assembly in Nashville, while Chicago's famed Water Tower on Michigan Avenue was the scene of a parallel rally of support.
Veteran Israeli activist Tsafrir Ronen addressed the crowd.

A United Jerusalem... Outside Opryland
Approximately 50 people rallied outside the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday in order to express their opposition to any suggestion that Israel's capital be shared with the Palestinian Authority as part of a reportedly brewing diplomatic agreement. Flying numerous American and Israeli flags, Jewish and non-Jewish demonstrators held signs that said, "Give Up Olmert - Not Jerusalem", "Defend Jerusalem" and "Keep Jerusalem United".

The rally was planned to coincide with the opening of the UJC's conference and organizers reported that "even folks on shuttle buses to the G.A. were waving and applauding our being out there."

Addressing the crowd, Bob Kunst, President of Shalom International, said, "We could be in such a massive crisis, especially with nuclear arms, if we don’t nip it in the bud now." Shalom International is a constituent organization of the Coalition to Defend Jerusalem, which is attempting to get the UJC to adopt a resolution to keep Jerusalem united.

Veteran Israeli activist Tsafrir Ronen addressed the crowd, as did Laurie Cardona-Moore, President of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, Inc. Ronen was also slated to address the General Assembly, while Proclaiming Justice has a booth at the UJC convention.

In honor of the US Veterans Day, rally participants remembered those who gave life, limb and service to stop the Nazis in World War II.

Kunst later said, "We fight today the same Nazis in this World War III, to finish what Hitler started. Failure to understand history dooms us all to repeat it. Remember, the lesson of the Holocaust: first the Jews, then everyone else."

Recalling Zionist History in Chicago
In addition to the rally for an undivided Jerusalem held in Nashville, a hurriedly put together rally was held at Chicago's famed Water Tower on Michigan Avenue on Sunday.

A sign at the Nov. 11 2007 rally for Jerusalem in Chicago

From the Chicago rally

Addressing the rally was Rabbi Philip Lefkowitz of Agudas Achim North Shore Congregation. He reminded those present that it was in Chicago that the first call for a modern Jewish state was made, in 1890 at a conference of Christians and Jews brought together by the well-known Evangelical William Blackstone. Looking into more recent past, Rabbi Lefkowitz noted that from 1948 to 1967, when Jerusalem was under Jordanian control, "not a voice was raised for a Palestinian people's right to a state with its capital in Jerusalem."

Crowds took part even though the Sunday rally in Chicago was organized at the last minute

"Today, in stark contrast [with the period of Arab rule], under Israeli control, Jerusalem is open to people of all religions to pray as they choose," the rabbi said, calling on all passersby to preserve Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel. He referred to the upcoming Annapolis conference on the Middle East as the "mad hatters tea party," with weak and ineffectual leaders like Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas facing the fall of their respective governments.

Rabbi Lefkowitz in Chicago called for a halt to the "mad hatter's tea party" in Annapolis

Rabbi Lefkowitz concluded by quoting from a letter sent by the Chicago Rabbinical Council, the Orthodox Rabbinate of Chicago, to Prime Minster Olmert. The letter concludes, "We at the Chicago Rabbinical Council insist you remain faithful to the trust and prayers of all Jews at the Passover Seder, 'L'shana haba'a b'Yerushalayim habnuya' (next year in the reestablished Jerusalem) - all of Jerusalem."

Upcoming Events
Jerusalem Coalition members and supporters of a united Israeli Jerusalem are planning a series of rallies in various parts of America to coincide with the Middle East conference scheduled for later this month in Annapolis, Maryland.

The next large protest against dividing Jerusalem is to take place in Washington DC,
In Annapolis itself... demonstrators will gather.
across from the White House, in Lafayette Park on November 25, 2007. Organizers are planning to march from the White House to the US Holocaust Museum, "to make the connections that giving away land for 'peace' resulted in seven million Jewish deaths and 60 million dead in World War II, with the Islamic Nazis helping the German Nazis."

In Annapolis itself, at Gate 1 of the Naval Academy slated to host the US-sponsored multinational forum, demonstrators will gather on November 27. As the date for the Annapolis conference is not finalized yet, organizers said that protests could be called for the 26th of the month, as well.

In addition, supporters of Jerusalem in Miami, Florida are to rally on November 25, and in Nashville and Chicago again on the 26th or 27th of the month.