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A massive climate march is scheduled for Rosh Hashanah. Jewish activists give it a pass.
(JTA) — A massive march aimed at pressing for stronger efforts to curb climate change will take place in New York on the second day of Rosh Hashanah — a scheduling move that could exclude Jewish climate activists.
The coalition People vs. Fossil Fuels said it had selected the date despite the conflict after careful consideration. The march will take place days before global leaders are set to descend on the city for the United Nations’ Climate Ambition Summit.
“There were a number of factors that led us to choose this date,” a statement on the event’s website said. “Given the timing of the UN Climate Summit, Yom Kippur on the following weekend, and the need to make the march accessible for families and working people of all backgrounds on a weekend, Sunday the 17th was the date that was chosen. We did not make this decision lightly.”
The move comes at a time when warnings abound on social media about how important it is to avoid scheduling events during the busy Jewish holiday season for anyone who is seeking to hold inclusive events. Just on Monday, for example, Rebecca Rausch, a Jewish state legislator in Massachusetts whose platform includes combating climate change, tweeted a “PSA for everyone doing September scheduling” not to hold meetings on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur, “at a minimum.”
Achieving those ambitions is particularly complicated this year, when Jewish holidays occupy three full weekends in September and October.
Jewish climate groups and activists say they understand why the March to End Fossil Fuels shook out the way it did — and emphasize that Jews concerned about what scientists say is a looming climate catastrophe have lots of opportunities to help besides marching on Sept. 17.
“This is just a busy time in the Jewish world,” Dahlia Rockowitz, director of campaigns and partnership at Dayenu, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “We know that any date that would have been picked around this summit was going to have challenges.”
Dayenu is one of five Jewish groups among the 30 faith-based organizations that are part of People vs. Fossil Fuels, which includes a total of over 1,200 organizations with interests in climate justice and progressive issues.
“We share disappointment that this was on Rosh Hashanah, but recognize the competing demands the organizers were holding, and also know that no matter what, it was going to be a challenging time of year to reach Jews, to turn out Jews to this type of event,” Rockowitz said.
Ben Goloff, a senior climate campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the organizations on the steering committee for the march, was involved in many of the scheduling discussions for this year’s climate march.
“For me and for other Jewish folks in the room and other organizations, this was at the top of our minds when we began sort of organizing around how we’re going to meet this moment, given the timing of the U.N. summit,” he said.
Goloff said he expected a Jewish delegation at the march on Rosh Hashanah and also understood why some Jews, depending on how they observe holidays, would be skipping it in favor of other efforts.
“There are some folks that are actually really excited to show up and participate in the march from the Jewish community and to hold a Jewish-led delegation as a part of it,” Goloff said. “And there are others that are organizing other things around it at times that make more sense for their practice.”
People vs. Fossil Fuels said in its statement about the schedule overlap that it appreciates the challenged it poses for many Jews.
“We deeply respect that Jewish communities have different relationships with protest and social action during the High Holidays,” the coalition said. “We honor and affirm that many Jewish communities and organizations will be praying at this time and celebrate their observance.”
This is not the first time a major march or protest has been held on an important Jewish holiday. In 2017, the March for Racial Justice in Washington, D.C. was scheduled for Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar and also one of the most widely observed Jewish holidays. Organizers of the march put out a statement apologizing for the “scheduling conflict.”
“The core leadership of the March for Racial Justice regrets the scheduling conflict of the September 30 date for the March for Racial Justice and the Yom Kippur holiday, the Day of Atonement,” the statement said. “The core leadership of the March for Racial Justice recognizes and celebrates the historical unity between African Americans and Americans of the Jewish faith. These two communities are natural partners, as each have a history of persecution and discrimination.”
Climate change has long ranked at or near the top of a list of issues concerning Jews in the United States, according to multiple surveys, and Jews have been heavily involved in the wider climate movement. But until recently, the issue had a marginal place on the agendas of Jewish communal organizations, which neglected climate even as the subject took on importance in the activism and policies of other religious communities and in the larger philanthropic world. That has changed in the last year or so, with a growing number of Jewish philanthropists and organizations allocating resources toward climate issues.
Rockowitz noted that other Jewish climate activism groups Dayenu is in touch with are coming up with alternatives to the Sunday march for those who are observing the holiday and not attending the protest. Jewish Climate Action Network NYC created a tashlich resource themed around the demands and messaging of the march, and a student strike on Friday, before Rosh Hashanah begins at nightfall, will have Jewish youth participants.
Shoshanna Segal, a Jewish fellow at the interfaith climate group GreenFaith, said she hasn’t decided yet whether to attend the march. But she said that while she would prefer that the march not coincide with the holiday, she thinks there are more important issues to consider.
“This is not the discussion that we should be having,” said Segal, who attends a Conservative synagogue in Queens, Forest Hills Jewish Center. “We should be having a discussion about: Is climate awareness somehow a 614th mitzvah?”
Rosh Hashanah celebrates the birthday of the world and has long been seen by environmental activists as a natural moment in the Jewish calendar to elevate their concerns. Some Jews who are attending the march during the holiday are taking the symbolism in stride: Some will gather at Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn before the march to create Rosh Hashanah-themed art to carry with them.
Goloff, who lives in Washington D.C., said he, too, anticipated interweaving his Jewish identity and his passion for climate activism even as some of their biggest dates overlap.
“I will be organizing at a time when I’m also praying and that’s going to be important for me,” Goloff said. “It’s absolutely something that I will be holding dear to me in that lead-up to the event and then the week after.”
“I’m really grateful, actually, for this opportunity to bring those two things together,” he added.
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Antisemitism in Switzerland Has Surged to ‘Unprecedented Level,’ New Report Finds
A pro-Hamas demonstration in Zurich, Switzerland, Oct. 28, 2023. Photo: IMAGO/dieBildmanufaktur via Reuters Connect
Antisemitism in Switzerland continued to surge to an “unprecedented level” across the country last year, compared to the months leading up to the Hamas-led massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, according to a new report published on Tuesday.
The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG), in collaboration with the Foundation Against Racism and Antisemitism (GRA), released its annual report on antisemitism in German-, Italian-, and Romansh-speaking Switzerland last year.
To compile and evaluate all antisemitic incidents, the study used the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism as a reference.
According to the report, the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza prompted a historic surge in attacks on the Swiss Jewish community.
“The war in the Middle East continued to cause a high number of antisemitic incidents in 2024,” the report stated. “The associated wave of antisemitism gained momentum over the course of the reporting
year, reaching an unprecedented level compared to the period prior to Oct. 7, 2023.”
The 31-page report registered 221 “real-world,” or non-online, antisemitic incidents in 2024, marking a 43 percent increase compared to 2023 and a 287 percent rise compared to 2022, the year before the Hamas invasion of southern Israel in October 2023.
Of all the antisemitic incidents registered in 2024, 11 were physical attacks on Jews, including an attempted murder in Zurich and an attempted arson attack on a synagogue. In contrast, prior to the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel in 2023, hardly any such incidents had been reported.
One of the most notorious recent cases was the Zurich attempted murder, in which an Orthodox Jewish man was stabbed and left with life-threatening injuries by a Swiss teenager, an Islamic State supporter of Tunisian origin.
Described by SIG as the most serious antisemitic hate crime in Switzerland in the past two decades, the incident caused widespread shock and led to enhanced security for Jewish sites in Zurich.
According to SIG’s new report, there was a significant increase in antisemitic statements, with 103 reported in 2024 compared to 38 in the previous year and six in 2022.
The study also found that at least 45 percent of all antisemitic incidents were directly related to the Israel-Hamas war, with such a link established in around 28 percent of the total 1,596 registered incidents online.
“Antisemitism has reached the streets in Switzerland,” SIG Secretary General Jonathan Kreutner told Swiss Radio SRF, adding that, despite this development, freedom of opinion, such as support for “Palestine” and criticism of the Israeli government, should be possible in Switzerland.
Based on its analysis, the report explained that “Swiss Jews are often seen as Israeli and are thus held responsible for Israel’s military actions and policies,” leading to members of the Jewish community being targeted in antisemitic attacks because they are seen as responsible for the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon.
For example, children and young people at schools and universities are being asked to distance themselves from the Israeli government, the study found.
Such rhetoric has fueled the anti-Jewish stereotype of dual loyalty “that Jews are only loyal to themselves and Israel and not real Swiss.” As a result, the report found that the Jewish community in Switzerland feels increasingly insecure, prompting many to hide religious symbols such as the Star of David or a kippah.
In their study, the SIG and GRA demanded that the safety of Jews be guaranteed and call on society and policymakers to ensure the long-term security of Jewish institutions through police action and active support for local security measures.
“Antisemitism in Switzerland is no longer at a crossroads; it has visibly prevailed against all resistance and taken a frightening turn,” the groups said in a statement.
“Whereas attacks such as verbal abuse, spitting, physical assault, and even brutal attacks on life and limb were previously only distant occurrences happening abroad, they are now a reality here, too,” the SIG and GRA added. “The sense of security felt by many Jewish people has deteriorated considerably.”
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Miami Beach Mayor Withdraws Proposal to Evict, Withdraw Funding for Theater Screening Anti-Israel Film
Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham pose with the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature Film for “No Other Land” at the Governors Ball following the Oscars show at the 97th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US, March 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mike Blake
Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner on Wednesday morning rescinded his proposal to evict a local movie theater from a city-owned building and revoke funding for the venue because of its screening of an Oscar-winning documentary that is critical of Israeli military actions in the West Bank.
The decision was announced at a Miami Beach City Commission meeting, where many members of the community addressed the commission and spoke in opposition to Meiner’s proposal against O Cinema, a sponsor of the Miami Jewish Film Festival, and its sold-out screenings of “No Other Land.” The Orthodox Jewish mayor of Miami Beach withdrew his proposal and deferred discussion to an alternative proposal he introduced on Tuesday night, which encourages O Cinema to show films that “highlight a fair and balanced viewpoint.”
“I really am appreciative of the passion that we saw today,” Meiner said at the conclusion of Wednesday’s meeting. “I’m trying not to get emotional, but I legitimately view this as a public safety threat — not immediately. I don’t think anyone in Miami Beach is going to get hurt or attacked because this movie is being shown, but I see and I’m witnessing what is going on in our world,” he added, addressing the global rise in antisemitism.
“What I was trying to do was highlight a level of hurt and what propaganda — yes, it all needs to be heard — but a level of propaganda that eventually can lead to devastation, whether it be pogroms in Europe, the Holocaust, and certainly Oct. 7,” the mayor said, referring to Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel. “It stars with propaganda and dehumanizing people. And that’s why I brought this to the forefront because, in my view, it was a public safety issue.”
“Even though some of you said some things [that] were hurtful, I love you all. I really, really do,” he concluded. “We’re all Americans, we’re all proud to be in this country, it is a great country, and I really just want what’s best for us, our city, and our country, and the world. God Bless.”
Meiner introduced his eviction proposal last week, after he failed to convince O Cinema to cancel its screenings of “No Other Land” in a letter that he sent to its CEO Vivian Marthell on March 5. At the meeting on Wednesday, five of the commission members said they would oppose the eviction proposal, which also called to suspend grant money to the theater and discontinue any further funding.
On Monday, more than 700 international filmmakers — including Oscar winner Michael Moore and “Moonlight” director Barry Jenkins – signed an open letter supporting O Cinema and encouraging the Miami Beach commissioners to reject Meiner’s proposed eviction of the theater.
O Cinema began screening “No Other Land” on March 7. The film centers on the demolition of Palestinian homes in Masafer Yatta, a collection of villages in the West Bank, and the struggles of Palestinians who confront Israeli armed forces over being evicted from the land, which Israel wants to turn into a military training facility. The film portrays Israeli armed forces as violent land grabbers that oppress and displace Palestinian families in Masafer Yatta, without explaining that Palestinians illegally built homes on the land that Israel had claimed for a military training zone in the 1980s. The film was made by a collective of Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers and activists, including Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham and Basel Adra, a Palestinian who lives in Masafer Yatta with his family.
“No Other Land” won best documentary feature film at the 97th Academy Awards on March 2. It has won a slew of other awards as well, including the prestigious Berlinale Documentary Award and Panorama Audience Award for Best Documentary Film.
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NYC Mayoral Contender Cites Hamas-Produced Casualty Figures While Condemning Israel for Restarting Gaza Campaign
Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect
Zohran Mamdani, one of the top contenders in the New York City mayoral race, on Tuesday condemned Israel for restarting war operations in the Gaza Strip, accusing the Jewish state of committing a “genocide” and citing Hamas-produced casualty statistics.
“Israel’s renewed bombing of Gaza — funded by our tax dollars — has already killed more than 400 Palestinians in just a few hours, including scores of women and children. It is among the deadliest days of a genocide which has taken the lives of more than 50,000 civilians,” Mamdani said in a statement. “‘The Israeli government has chosen to give up on the hostages,’ an organization of Israeli families said this morning. The Trump administration must bring all of its pressure to bear on [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu to establish the ceasefire now.”
On Monday night, Israel resumed airstrikes targeting Hamas in Gaza under the directive of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose office said in a statement that the military action followed “Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all of the proposals it has received from US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators.”
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry claimed that around 400 Palestinians were killed from the initial Israeli airstrikes, although the ministry does not distinguish between terrorist combatants and civilians. Moreover, researchers have shown that casualty figures published by Gaza’s Hamas-run health authorities have been inflated to defame Israel.
Mamdani, a representative within the New York State Assembly and progressive firebrand, has made anti-Israel activism a cornerstone of his political career. Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, has both advanced state legislation seeking to punish Israel and labeled the Jewish state’s defensive military operations in Gaza a “genocide.”
Although Mamdani is considered a threat to win the New York City mayorship, his position in the race has slipped. Mamdani commands 8 percent of the vote among New Yorkers, good enough for third place, according to a poll by Quinnipiac conducted between Feb. 27-Mar. 3. Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo holds a commanding lead at 38 percent, per Quinnipiac.
Comparatively, according to a poll conducted by Honan Strategy Group from Feb. 22-23, Mamdani previously sat in second place with 12 percent of the vote.
In 2021, Mamdani issued public support for the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement —an initiative which seeks to economically and diplomatically isolate Israel iasthe first step to its eventual destruction. He claimed that support for the anti-Israel movement is growing within New York City, saying on X/Twitter that “the tide is turning. The fight for justice is here. The moment is now.”
That same year, he also called for prohibiting New York lawmakers from visiting Israel, asserting that “every elected [official] must be pressured to stand with Palestinians.”
In May 2023, Mamdani advanced the “Not on Our Dime! Ending New York Funding of Israeli Settler Violence Act,” legislation which would ban charities from using tax-deductible donations to aid organizations that work in the West Bank. Mamdani argued that the legislation would help the state fight against so-called Israeli “war crimes” against Palestinians. The socialist dismissed critics of the legislation, saying that his anti-Israel proposal is “in line with the sentiments of most New Yorkers.”
On Oct. 8, 2023, 24 hours following the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, Mamdani published a statement condemning “Netanyahu’s declaration of war” and suggesting that Israel would use the terror attacks to justify committing a second “Nakba.” Many Palestinians and anti-Israel activists use the term “Nakba,” or “catastrophe,” to refer to the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948.
Mamdani then said that Israel can only secure its long-term safety by “ending the occupation and dismantling apartheid.”
Five days later, he further criticized Israel’s response to the Hamas-led massacres, saying that “we are on the brink of a genocide of Palestinians in Gaza right now.”
In January 2024, he called on New York City to cease sending funds to Israel, saying that “Voters oppose their tax dollars funding a genocide.”
In addition, Mamdani is a high-profile member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), a far-left political organization with critical views of Israel. Though the DSA has long opposed Israel, the organization has ramped up its pro-Hamas rhetoric during the ongoing war in Gaza. On Oct. 7, the organization issued a statement saying that Hamas’s massacre was “a direct result of Israel’s apartheid regime.” The organization also encouraged its followers to attend an Oct. 8 “All Out for Palestine” event in Manhattan.
In January 2024, the DSA issued a statement calling for an “end to diplomatic and military support of Israel.” Then in April, the organization’s international committee, DSA IC, issued a missive defending Iran’s right to “self-defense” against Israel. In addition, the socialist group slammed former US Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) over his vote in favor of replenishing Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system.
Mamdani’s political ascendance comes amid a spike in anti-Jewish hate crimes within New York City.
New York City has been ravaged by a surge in antisemitic incidents in the 17 months following the Oct. 7 massacre. According to police data, Jews were targeted as the victims in a majority of all hate crimes in the city last year.
Meanwhile, pro-Hamas activists have held raucous — and sometimes violent — protests on the city’s college campuses, oftentimes causing Jewish students to fear for their safety. New York City schools are also currently facing criticism for failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students from antisemitism.
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