San Diego (special) -- Among people in San Diego's Jewish community who took public positions prior to the House of Representatives' historic vote to impeach President Bill Clinton, the sentiment clearly favored censuring the President instead.

Along with members of other religious communities, some Jews made their opinions known at a "Stop Impeachment Now" rally held in Balboa Park on Wednesday, Dec. 16, three days prior to the impeachment vote in the Congress.

Among them was Rep. Bob Filner (D-San Diego), who on Saturday, Dec. 19, voted against impeachment on the floor of the House. Filner told the 500 people in the Balboa Park crowd that by demonstrating their opposition to impeachment they were sending a message to "get this Congress back to work and off this President. When this rally is over, we are going to go on a plane to go back to Washington, and ...I am going to vote 'no' on impeachment."  In the debate on the House floor on Friday, Dec.

Pro and con placards at Balboa Park rally

18, Filner argued unsuccessfully to his congressional colleagues that "while President Clinton's behavior was both reckless and indefensible, it is not impeachable. It is this Congress that is subverting the Constitution by trivializing the impeachment process."

He added that the vote concerning President Clinton's adulterous affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and his subsequent efforts to conceal that relationship "must not only produce justice; it must bring American together, it must heal America. I attended a rally in San Diego two days ago and fist fights broke out between those who differed on impeachment. The country is polarized and in imminent danger of being torn apart. The questioning of the President's motives in Iraq are only the beginning of the distrust and suspicion that will engulf this nation during a long impeachment trial."

Although HERITAGE did not witness the fistfights to which Filner alluded, it was clear to all in attendance that emotions were running high as people for and against impeachment brandished placards with such conflicting slogans as "Impeach the Perjurer!" and "Starr, Hyde & Company: hypocrisy, vindictiveness, obsession, our specialties."

Murray Galinson, chairman of San Diego National Bank, described himself at the Balboa Park rally as a "businessman who is very disappointed with actions being taken by members of our House of Representatives. ...It is clear in San Diego that San Diegans do not condone what President Clinton has done nor do we want to see him impeached. What we want to see is our representatives represent us fairly in this hearing. We want them to reach a fair compromise, not voting 'yeah' or 'nay' on one issue but what is fair and right for this country."

Despite the solemnity of the occasion, there was some laughter when Galinson's adult daughter, Laura, turned to a friend and said proudly at that point: "That's my dad!"

A leader of the National Jewish Democratic Council, Galinson meanwhile was reminding the crowd that national public opinion polls consistently showed the American public disapproving impeachment and preferring censure. He said that among some pundits there is an expectation when voters go back to the polls in the Year 2000 that they will not remember whatever anger they felt over the vote to impeach the President. "Let me tell you something folks, we remember the Alamo and we will remember 1998!" Galinson declared to cheers.

While other members of the Jewish community did not go to the microphone to speak, they expressed their opinions in interviews with HERITAGE. Ellen Barnett, for example, said she and three friends drove from the Rancho Bernardo area of San Diego to Balboa Park out of a desire to protest "this nonsense about wanting to impeach President Clinton to which I strongly object. It is the worst thing that could happen to our country. It is not an impeachable offense that he has committed."

Cyrene Robitaille said she strongly opposed the impeachment "because I feel it will divide the country; this is something we don't need right now. If he did commit perjury, it is certainly not a high crime. For me a high crime means treason and the man certainly did not commit treason."

"To me, it has been a witch hunt ever since that man has been in office," commented Norman Murkoff. "There is a certain element in Congress and in this nation which is out to get him. At this point, they don't really care what the people think. They tried Whitewater; that didn't go. They tried Travelgate; that didn't go. They tried Filegate; that didn't go. So this is their last resort."

A fourth Rancho Bernardo resident, Sunny Levin, said she felt Clinton's "behavior was despicable but it certainly doesn't rise to the height of treason and I think at this point in our lives we need to go on with our work in this country, and Clinton is doing a good job. Let him face the music after he is out of office."

Pauline Newman, who resides in the San Carlos area of San Diego, said she considered the impeachment drive "a dirty trick. This is how Hitler came to power after the Reichstag fire, and the people weren't aware, and this is what is going to happen here in America. They are going to stop the government's work."

Some Christians attending the rally chose words from their Scriptures to characterize the charges against the President. "I like the statement that Jesus Christ said when they were going to stone the woman," said City Councilman George Stevens, who is a Baptist minister. "He looked and said, 'he who is without sin, let him cast the first stone.'"

Stevens also said: "I can't understand why the Jerry Falwells and the rest of the preachers who do not forgive (Clinton) when they teach forgiveness every Sunday in the church."

The Balboa Park rally was organized by City Councilwoman Christine Kehoe. "A small group of right wing Republicans whose power and influence far exceed their numbers are railroading this process," she told the crowd. "President Clinton is being held hostage by a faction who want to undo his landslide election by the people of this country. These people have spent millions of your tax dollars on an investigation that has gone nowhere. They are clinging to a personal indiscretion because they can't get him on anything else. All their charges have no merit. It is time for this witch hunt to stop."

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After the Dec. 19 vote by which two articles of impeachment were referred by the House to the U.S. Senate, Jews on both sides of the issue continued to make their views known.

Amnon Ben-Yehuda e-mailed a message to the HERITAGE that he has made a pledge to an organization called Moveon.org that "in the 2000 election, we will work to defeat members of Congress who voted for impeachment or removal."

Dr. Norman Mann, noting that President Clinton had decided to stop the bombing campaign against Iraq a few days after the impeachment vote, also messaged HERITAGE: "Just think of the cost of the bombing versus the cost of the Special Investigator. Bombing for four days must be in the relam of hundreds of millions and we are back to Square '1.' Starr's investigation was a bargain maybe. Clinton's problem was that he stonewalled like Saddam."