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New York Jews, grappling with surging antisemitism, are bolstered by massive pro-Israel rally
(New York Jewish Week) — Congregants lined up in the morning cold outside the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in the Upper West Side as the dawn broke Tuesday. Many of them held signs in support of Israel as well as supplies for the long day ahead as they boarded a large tour bus headed for Washington, D.C..
“This is an important act of unity and solidarity,” Rabbi Dalia Samansky told the passengers as the bus slowly made its way toward the March for Israel rally at the National Mall, as tens of thousands of other Jews from around the country headed toward the event. The Reform synagogue’s cantor, Daniel Singer, then played a rendition of “Tefilat haderech,” or “A prayer for the road,” on an acoustic guitar.
The congregants said they were inspired to make the long, trafficky trip to the rally to support the hostages held by Hamas, publicly back Israel, and take a stand against antisemitism as anti-Jewish discrimination surges in New York and elsewhere amid the fallout from the war. After event organizers announced a historic turnout of nearly 300,000 people at the rally, the participants said the event had bolstered their spirits and made a powerful statement in support of Jewish solidarity and Israel’s cause.
The group of marchers from Stephen Wise included synagogue members, some of their friends and family, and others who occasionally attend services. The contingent ranged in age from high schoolers to the elderly, and included several family groups. The synagogue’s chief rabbi, Ammiel Hirsch, is in Israel on a trip.
“I’m joining because I see the scary rise of antisemitism and I’ve been talking to people, and it’s just heartbreaking,” said Maxine Albert, a Manhattanite who sometimes attends services at the synagogue. “People are telling me that they’re not wearing anything that identifies them as Jewish.”
“It scares me and I want to stand up,” she added.
Samansky said the rally came as many congregants felt increasing pressure over their support for Israel, as many activists clamor for Israel to accept a ceasefire with Hamas and the memory of the terror group’s Oct. 7 atrocities fade from the public discourse. Many of the congregants also felt isolated and abandoned by their former allies on the left due to the lack of a condemnation for antisemitism, Samansky added.
“A lot of our congregants are really struggling with their own place in the world, their own place in the social justice world that they have believed and been a part of for so long, while also dealing with their fear of being Jewish right now,” she said. “More and more congregants are saying, ‘Should I wear my star? Should I have my mezuzah be so prominent?’”
“It’s so important to be at this [rally] to say we have a right to be Jewish, we have a right to be proud to be Jewish, we have a right to support Israel, and Israel has a right to be proud and to defend itself,” she said.
Several congregants said that the defaced and ripped up hostage posters around New York City were a reminder of the hostility around them, and some compared the tense atmosphere in the city to the rising antisemitism in prewar Europe. A number of attendees also cited the hostile atmosphere on college campuses as a worrying harbinger for the future.
“When I was growing up, it was [shortly] after the Holocaust, so antisemitism wasn’t considered to be mainstream. It had to be hidden,” said Joyce Goldwyn-Spencer. Now, she said, “so much time has passed and they have the excuse of using Israel, blaming Israel.”
“I think there is a sense of awakening,” said congregant Debra Warren, saying some U.S. Jews had become aware of “the Jew hatred that’s probably been simmering under the surface that’s now bubbled above the surface.”
The congregants firmly backed Israel’s need to defeat Hamas while mourning the Palestinian victims, and blamed much of the toxic discourse surrounding the conflict on a lack of nuance in the conversation and poor understanding of the complex issues at play in the region.
After the five-hour drive, the synagogue’s bus pulled into a parking lot at FedEx Field in North Englewood, Maryland, some nine miles east of the National Mall. The congregants spilled onto the asphalt to join throngs of other Jews and allies; the Stephen Wise group mostly broke apart as they mixed in with the thousands who made their way to the rally via shuttle, subway, taxi and on foot.
The masses in attendance at the rally included secular Jews and non-Jews, Haredim, school groups in matching shirts and Israelis navigating the crowds in Hebrew. Youths from the Chabad movement manned a tent, putting tefillin on passersby and handing out yellow balloons to high schoolers as young men wearing kippot danced in a circle nearby. Many in the crowd, framed on the lawn between the White House and the Washington Monument, carried U.S. and Israeli flags and photos of hostages. The crowd fell silent as families of the captives spoke, with some in the audience breaking into tears.
The crowd size — likely the largest Jewish gathering in U.S. history — was a powerful message for the congregation. “That’s what we needed, to make it really significant and historic,” Goldwyn-Spencer said.
Several congregants also said the support from public officials and non-Jews inspired confidence.
“It was exciting and beautiful to see Jews coming together,” Warren said, adding that the wide range of groups at the rally was affirming. “I think the hardest part has been the sense of feeling alone. As Jews, we have each other.”
“I never thought that we would need to do this but the time is now so I’m glad to be there,” said congregant Michael Sherman, adding that he was cheered by “Jews putting arms around each other, helping each other — secular, Orthodox.”
On the way back to the parking lot, young Israelis and Haredim alighted on the subway together as a group of high schoolers sang. The Stephen Wise delegation boarded the bus back to New York, and the cantor, Singer, played “Oseh Shalom” as two teenagers passed out bags of chocolate chip cookies to the weary congregants.
“This isn’t 1939. We’re not going to stay silent in the face of antisemitism. We are going to stand up, we are going to protect ourselves and be proud of who we are,” Samansky said. “We’re determined to continue speaking out and being present and reminding the world that we are here and we have the right to be here.”
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Dozens of Celebrities Call for Ceasefire, Help Raise $2 Million for Gaza Palestinians at Benefit Concert
Billie Eilish and Finneas receive Album of the Year Award for “Hit Me Hard and Soft” during the iHeartRadio Music Awards at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California, US, March 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
A star-studded list of celebrities helped raise money for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip amid the Israel-Hamas war as part of a fundraising campaign and benefit concert that took place at London’s Wembley Arena on Wednesday.
Ahead of the ‘Together for Palestine” concert, the campaign released a video featuring dozens of celebrities who called for a ceasefire in Gaza and to “stop the killing” of Palestinians during the ongoing war. They included Grammy-winning artists Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas, Oscar winners Cillian Murphy, Joaquin Phoenix, Javier Bardem, and Penelope Cruz; “Outlander” star Caitriona Balfe; Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai; and Scottish actor Brian Cox.
“We have to tell the truth on behalf of the people of Palestine,” Cox said in the video.
“It’s important to speak out now, not when this is over, right now, while it’s happening, pressurize your government. Lend your support to those who are peacefully campaigning for Palestine. Call for a ceasefire, stop the killing,” added British comedian and actor Steve Coogan in the clip.
The video also included appearances by “The White Lotus” star Natasha Rothwell, “Bad Sisters” star Sharon Horgan, and “Weapons” actor Benedict Wong. It was released mere hours before the “Together for Palestine” benefit concert at Wembley Arena, which raised more than £1.5 million ($2 million). The event included performances from Bastille, James Blake, Jamie xx, and PinkPantheress, and Palestinian artists such as Sama’ Abdulhadi, Saint Levant, and Nia Barghouti, who is the daughter of Omar Barghouti, a leader of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
Paloma Faith performed live wearing a dress made from a Palestinian keffiyeh. The event also featured a pre-recorded performance by Annie Lennox of her new song “Why? – For Gaza,” which she sang while wearing a T-shirt that said, “Let Gaza Live.”
The event, which was livestreamed on YouTube, was organized by British artist Brian Eno, who read the poem “Oh Rascal Shildren of Gaza” by Palestinian writer Khaled Juma. Speakers at the event included actors Richard Gere, Florence Pugh, and “Bridgerton” stars Nicola Coughlan and Charithra Chandran. Benedict Cumberbatch recited a Palestinian poem while broadcaster Mehdi Hasan led the audience in chanting “You can’t bomb the truth away.”
British-American documentarian Louis Theroux claimed on stage that Palestinians are “living under military occupation [and are] subject to slow, grinding relentless violence.” French former soccer player Eric Cantona called for Israeli athletes to be banned from all soccer competitions around the world, including FIFA and UEFA matches.
“I know that international football is more than just sport,” said the former Manchester United player. “It’s cultural; political. It’s soft power in the way that a country represents itself on a global stage. The time has come to suspend Israel from that privilege.” His comments elicited loud applause from the audience.
“FIFA and UEFA must suspend Israel,” he added. “[Soccer] clubs everywhere must refuse to play Israeli teams. Current players everywhere must refuse to play against Israeli teams … it’s time for everyone to get off the sidelines.” When Cantona asked the audience if they agreed that Israelis should be boycotted from all soccer matches, they replied in unison, “Yes!”
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories said, “Palestinians continue to suffer while our governments turn a blind eye, or worse – they are complicit. They trade weapons. They host Israeli officials.” Both Pugh and Coughlan criticized their colleagues in Hollywood for staying silent about “grave violations of human rights in Gaza.”
“Silence in the face of such suffering is not neutrality. It is complicity. And empathy should not be this hard and it should have never been this hard,” said Pugh. She also applauded Nia’s Bargouti’s performance at the concert in an Instagram story. In the caption of the post, she told Bargouti that “[you] sang so beautifully and so powerfully considering the weight and meaning of this evening. I was blown away by your strength.”
Others who made an appearance at the event included actress Jameela Jamil, “Love Island” host Laura Whitmore, and the “Chicken Shop Date” YouTuber Amelia Dimoldenberg.
“Together For Palestine” said all ticket proceeds from the benefit concert will be given to Palestinian-led organizations on the ground in Gaza, through Choose Love, a British charity that supports humanitarian workers in conflict zones. The groups that will benefit from Wednesday’s concert include Taawon, which runs orphan care programs in Gaza, the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, and the Palestinian Medical Relief Society.
Israel has long expressed concern that Hamas steals much of the humanitarian aid that is sent into Gaza for its own terrorist operations and to sell to Palestinian civilians at inflated prices.
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Italian Port Blocks Arms for Israel as Worker Protests Mount
Illustrative: Demonstrators participate in a pro-Palestinian protest in Piazza Duomo in Milan, Italy, on Nov. 23, 2024. Photo: Alessandro Bremec/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect
The Italian Adriatic port of Ravenna on Thursday refused entry to two trucks said to be carrying arms to Israel, as protests mount among Italian dockworkers and other labor groups against the offensive in Gaza.
The center-left mayor of Ravenna, Alessandro Barattoni, told reporters the port authority had accepted the request from him and the regional government to deny access to the lorries carrying explosives en route to the Israeli port of Haifa.
“The Italian state says it has blocked the sale of arms to Israel but it is unacceptable that, thank to bureaucratic loopholes, they can pass through Italy from other countries,” Barattoni said in a statement.
He did not provide details on where the containers had come from or provide evidence of their contents.
Similar action to block arms shipments to Israel has been taken by dockworkers in other European countries such as France, Sweden, and Greece.
Ravenna’s decision reflects growing mobilization in Italy against Israel‘s military campaign and in support of an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to the Palestinians.
A spokesperson from the Israeli embassy in Rome said they did not have sufficiently detailed information about the case and so declined to comment. Israel‘s government sometimes accuses Europea nations of bias against it and swallowing propaganda by the Hamas terrorist group whom it is fighting in Gaza.
On Friday Italy’s largest trade union body, the CGIL, will hold a national half-day strike and marches in Rome and other cities, while on Sept. 22 two other unions will halt work and try to block activity in the large ports of Genoa and Livorno.
“We won’t let a single pin through the port,” said Riccardo Rudino from the Calp dockers’ union in Genoa.
Israel launched its offensive after Hamas-led terrorists attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
The CGIL said its protests were aimed at generating pressure on Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government “to suspend all commercial and military cooperation agreements with Israel, lift the humanitarian embargo, and recognize the State of Palestine.”
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Thursday Italy would support EU sanctions against violent Israeli settlers and Israeli ministers who have made “unacceptable” comments on Gaza and the West Bank, and was open to considering trade sanctions.
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Israeli Tanks, Infantry Advance in Gaza City Offensive as Enclave Hit by Telecoms Blackout
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during a military operation, in Gaza City, Sept. 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ebrahim Hajjaj
Israeli tanks were advancing on Thursday in two Gaza City areas that are gateways to the city center, while internet and phone lines were cut off across the Gaza Strip, a sign that ground operations were likely to further escalate imminently.
Israeli forces control Gaza City’s eastern suburbs and in recent days have been pounding the Sheikh Radwan and Tel Al-Hawa areas, from where they would be positioned to advance on central and western areas where most of the population is sheltering.
In separate developments, Israel attacked Hezbollah military targets in southern Lebanon, while two Israelis were killed at Allenby Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, in what the Israeli military called a “terror attack.”
INFANTRY, TANKS, ARTILLERY ADVANCING TOWARDS INNER CITY
Israeli army spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said Israeli forces had been operating in the periphery of Gaza City for several weeks but since the night of Monday to Tuesday large numbers of troops had begun moving towards the inner city.
He said a combination of infantry, tanks, and artillery was advancing, backed up by the air force, and that it was a gradual process that would increase as time went on.
“The strategy right now is to defeat Hamas and apply pressure on Hamas, which can lead to a deal or can lead to rescue missions [to free hostages],” Shoshani told Reuters on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza.
A total of 48 hostages captured during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, remain in Gaza and Israeli officials believe around 20 are still alive.
Hostage families have been imploring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the offensive on Gaza and instead negotiate a ceasefire with Hamas to free their loved ones, but Netanyahu says military victory will bring them home.
The armed wing of Hamas said on Thursday the hostages were distributed throughout the neighborhoods of Gaza City.
“The start of this criminal operation and its expansion means you will not receive any captive, alive or dead,” it said in a written statement.
MANY FLEEING AMID TELECOMS BLACKOUT, MANY MORE STAYING PUT
The Palestinian Telecommunications Company said in a statement that its services had been cut off “due to the ongoing aggression and the targeting of the main network routes.”
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have fled Gaza City since Israel announced on Aug. 10 it intended to take control, but a greater number are staying put, either in battered homes among the ruins or in makeshift tent encampments.
The military has been dropping leaflets urging residents to flee towards a designated “humanitarian zone” in the south of the territory, but aid agencies say conditions there are dire, with insufficient food, medicine, shelter, and basic hygiene.
The World Health Organization warned on Thursday that critical shortages of blood in Gaza hospitals could see key services grind to a halt within days.
FAMILIES WITH BELONGINGS EVACUATE TOWARDS THE SOUTH
Along the coastal road, an unbroken column of every type of vehicle from carts and beaten-up cars to vans designed to carry goods was moving south, heavily laden with mattresses, gas cylinders, and entire families perching on their belongings.
“We are heading to go sleep on the streets towards the beach, like this, barefoot, we don’t know where to go,” said Yasser Saleh, speaking as he stood on the edge of a rickety trailer being pulled by a car.
The war was triggered by the Oct. 7 attacks, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.