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‘Your fight is my fight’: Thousands rally alongside NY leadership to grieve and back Israel after Hamas invasion
(New York Jewish Week) — Liberal Zionists joined with right-wing activists and secular and Hasidic Jews grieved together with elected officials at a demonstration outside the United Nations on Tuesday that expressed solidarity with Israel and mourned its dead.
The gathering occurred as a bloodied Israel continued to battle terrorists and buried its fallen, four days after an invasion by Hamas killed more than 900 people, wounded thousands and took more than 100 captive. At least 14 U.S. citizens have died and 20 are among the hostages.
“This is the place that our voices must raise and cascade throughout the entire country. We will not be alright until every person responsible for this act is held accountable,” Eric Adams said in a fiery speech. “I’m here today to say, not only am I the chief executive of this city, but I’m your brother. Your fight is my fight.”
State leaders including Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul had harshly condemned the pro-Palestinian Times Square event.
There did not appear to be a significant counterprotest outside the gathering aside from a small group from Neturei Karta, a Jewish movement that opposes Zionism and shows up to counter pro-Israel rallies as a matter of practice.
The massive crowd on Tuesday — its size roughly estimated by organizers to be 12,000 — spilled out of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza in east midtown. Many in the somber audience bore Israeli flags and homemade signs voicing support for Israel, in addition to signs printed by some of the Jewish organizations sponsoring the rally. Placards in the audience read, “Never again is now,” “Hamas=ISIS,” and “Free our brothers,” and displayed photos of the attack’s victims.
In addition to Adams, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James gave passionate speeches in support of Israel and the New York Jewish community. Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, and the acting consul general to New York, Tsach Saar, welcomed US support and voiced defiance against terror in their addresses to the crowd. In addition to the state leadership, a number of city council members were in attendance.
“I stand here to tell you that New Yorkers will never tolerate evil, whether it’s committed here in our homeland or in Israel,” Hochul told the crowd. “In such moments of darkness and in cruelty, yes we are called upon to pray for peace, but justice first. There must be justice for the slaughter.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul addresses a pro-Israel rally in New York City on Oct. 10, 2023. (Luke Tress)
Participants came on their own and in large groups. Buses that shuttled in students from area religious schools lined Second Avenue, while progressive Israeli activists handed out Israeli flags, and members of right-wing groups held signs demanding a harsh response against Hamas. Some of the flags bore the slogan “Free in our land,” the insignia of the Israeli protest movement — underscoring how a movement focused on opposing the government has transformed into an impromptu aid and support network in the wake of the invasion.
Chabad Hasidic emissaries also dotted the crowd, urging men to put on tefillin.
Some in the crowd cried as two parents from Long Island told the story of their son in Israel, who went missing in the attack, and as a group of cantors performed a song saluting Israel Defense Forces troops.The event ended with the singing of Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah.”
“Omer, look at all the love and support. We love you and we’re just looking forward to bringing you home,” the father said in a message to his son.
The event’s estimated size made it by far the largest show of support for Israel outside the country since the start of the war. Some arrivals struggled to get inside the cordoned-off area due to the crowding and tight police security.
“It’s definitely really important and it’s good to be living in a city like New York where there’s such a large population of other Jewish people,” said Evan Purcell, a Jewish man from the neighborhood. “It builds more of a community and to be supported by politicians and leaders only strengthens us and makes us feel heard.”
The event, billed as “New York Stands With Israel,” was led by the UJA-Federation of New York and the city’s Jewish Community Relations Council. It was sponsored by nearly a dozen other Jewish groups, including the Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, Israeli American Council, Union for Reform Judaism, and Orthodox Union.
“All the Jewish organizations including the ADL came together to be united because that’s what we need in this moment, to be united,” Scott Richman, the regional director of the ADL, told the New York Jewish Week.
Riki Cohen, an Israeli woman living in New York, came to the rally with her son. She said she would be traveling soon to Israel, where her daughter lives, to be with her. Cohen’s husband, an officer, was also called up to military service in Israel. Almost all of her friends were at the rally, she said.
“It really moves me to see all these people who support Israel, who during normal times don’t think about it so much but when there’s sorrow, everyone’s together and everyone supports,” she said. “It definitely helps. It gives a feeling of strength and security.”
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The post ‘Your fight is my fight’: Thousands rally alongside NY leadership to grieve and back Israel after Hamas invasion appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Iran and the United States agreed on Saturday to task experts to start drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister said, after a second round of talks following President Donald Trump’s threat of military action.
At their second indirect meeting in a week, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi negotiated for almost four hours in Rome with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, through an Omani official who shuttled messages between them.
Trump, who abandoned a 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers during his first term in 2018, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, says it is willing to discuss limited curbs to its atomic work in return for lifting international sanctions.
Speaking on state TV after the talks, Araqchi described them as useful and conducted in a constructive atmosphere.
“We were able to make some progress on a number of principles and goals, and ultimately reached a better understanding,” he said.
“It was agreed that negotiations will continue and move into the next phase, in which expert-level meetings will begin on Wednesday in Oman. The experts will have the opportunity to start designing a framework for an agreement.”
The top negotiators would meet again in Oman next Saturday to “review the experts’ work and assess how closely it aligns with the principles of a potential agreement,” he added.
Echoing cautious comments last week from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he added: “We cannot say for certain that we are optimistic. We are acting very cautiously. There is no reason either to be overly pessimistic.”
There was no immediate comment from the US side following the talks. Trump told reporters on Friday: “I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”
Washington’s ally Israel, which opposed the 2015 agreement with Iran that Trump abandoned in 2018, has not ruled out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.
Since 2019, Iran has breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal’s limits on its uranium enrichment, producing stocks far above what the West says is necessary for a civilian energy program.
A senior Iranian official, who described Iran’s negotiating position on condition of anonymity on Friday, listed its red lines as never agreeing to dismantle its uranium enriching centrifuges, halt enrichment altogether or reduce its enriched uranium stockpile below levels agreed in the 2015 deal.
The post Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike
Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of Edan Alexander, 19, an Israeli army volunteer kidnapped by Hamas, attends a special Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony with families of other hostages, in Herzliya, Israel October 27, 2023 REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
Hamas said on Saturday the fate of an Israeli dual national soldier believed to be the last US citizen held alive in Gaza was unknown, after the body of one of the guards who had been holding him was found killed by an Israeli strike.
A month after Israel abandoned the ceasefire with the resumption of intensive strikes across the breadth of Gaza, Israel was intensifying its attacks.
President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said in March that freeing Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old New Jersey native who was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that precipitated the war, was a “top priority.” His release was at the center of talks held between Hamas leaders and US negotiator Adam Boehler last month.
Hamas had said on Tuesday that it had lost contact with the militants holding Alexander after their location was hit in an Israeli attack. On Saturday it said the body of one of the guards had been recovered.
“The fate of the prisoner and the rest of the captors remains unknown,” said Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades’ spokesperson Abu Ubaida.
“We are trying to protect all the hostages and preserve their lives … but their lives are in danger because of the criminal bombings by the enemy’s army,” Abu Ubaida said.
The Israeli military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Hamas released 38 hostages under the ceasefire that began on January 19. Fifty-nine are still believed to be held in Gaza, fewer than half of them still alive.
Israel put Gaza under a total blockade in March and restarted its assault on March 18 after talks failed to extend the ceasefire. Hamas says it will free remaining hostages only under an agreement that permanently ends the war; Israel says it will agree only to a temporary pause.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it hit about 40 targets across the enclave over the past day. The military on Saturday announced that a 35-year-old soldier had died in combat in Gaza.
NETANYAHU STATEMENT
Late on Thursday Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’ Gaza chief, said the movement was willing to swap all remaining 59 hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel in return for an end to the war and reconstruction of Gaza.
He dismissed an Israeli offer, which includes a demand that Hamas lay down its arms, as imposing “impossible conditions.”
Israel has not responded formally to Al-Hayya’s comments, but ministers have said repeatedly that Hamas must be disarmed completely and can play no role in the future governance of Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to give a statement later on Saturday.
Hamas on Saturday also released an undated and edited video of Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot. Hamas has released several videos over the course of the war of hostages begging to be released. Israeli officials have dismissed past videos as propaganda.
After the video was released, Bohbot’s family said in a statement that they were “deeply shocked and devastated,” and expressed concern for his mental and physical condition.
“How much longer will he be expected to wait and ‘stay strong’?” the family asked, urging for all of the 59 hostages who are still held in Gaza to be brought home.
The post Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks
FILE PHOTO: Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said gives a speech after being sworn in before the royal family council in Muscat, Oman January 11, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Sultan Al Hasani/File Photo
Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said is set to visit Moscow on Monday, days after the start of a round of Muscat-mediated nuclear talks between the US and Iran.
The sultan will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
Iran and the US started a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran’s atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.
Ahead of Saturday’s talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. Following the meeting, Lavrov said Russia was “ready to assist, mediate and play any role that will be beneficial to Iran and the USA.”
Moscow has played a role in Iran’s nuclear negotiations in the past as a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and signatory to an earlier deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
The sultan’s meetings in Moscow visit will focus on cooperation on regional and global issues, the Omani state news agency and the Kremlin said, without providing further detail.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss trade and economic ties, the Kremlin added.
The post Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.