Peres Meets with Latino Leaders in California
Also Met With Google, Facebook Execs During Trip
Shimon
Peres ended a week-long visit to California with a wide-ranging
discussion with Latino leaders on American exceptionalism, global
generation gaps, and the correct spelling of his last name.
Sunday morning's event with the Israeli
president at a Beverly Hills hotel drew some 120 invited guests,
predominantly members of the Latino community and religious leaders,
their Jewish counterparts, a smattering of Hollywood personalities, and
numerous politicians eager to reach out to Latino and Jewish
constituencies at the same time.
Peres
was introduced by John A. Perez, speaker and legislative leader of the
California Assembly, which led to some banter about the correct spelling
and pronunciation of their respective last names.
An
audience question about the influence of the Latino electoral vote
triggered a fervent declaration by Peres on American exceptionalism, a
catchword of the current Republican presidential primary campaign.
"The
United States is the only country with global responsibilities and
there are some things only America can do," Peres said. "When you
[Americans] vote, you vote for the future of your own children, but also
for the children of other nations."
An
emotional moment came during a question-and-answer period in a
one-sentence statement by Pastor Carlos Ortiz, director of Hispanic
outreach for Christians United For Israel. Following up on an earlier
Peres literary allusion of "I am alone, you are alone, let's be alone
together," Ortiz declared, "There are 80 million Christians here that
say Israel is not alone."
The
88-year old Peres showed his familiarity with Latin American literature
and politics, but no sign of fatigue after a packed seven-day schedule
that included visits to San Francisco and Silicon Valley, and in Los
Angeles a mass Jewish community meeting and a trip to the DreamWorks
Animation studios.
Israeli
deputy consul general Gil Artzyeli, a fluent Spanish speaker who
organized the Sunday event, also noted that, the evening before,
Hollywood had assembled the largest gathering of stars and studio heads
to ever meet an Israeli dignitary.
During
the Silicon Valley tour, Peres talked at length with Facebook CEO Mark
Zuckerberg and Sergei Brin, co-founder of Google, and was apparently
impressed and invigorated by the encounters.
Commenting
on the global impact of the social media, Peres said, "The world's
major divisions are not among nations, but between generations. Whether
in the Arab world or in Russia, the young are saying to their elders,
'Don't impose your past on us.'"
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