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‘When there is a crisis over there … we feel it viscerally here’: New Yorkers march in solidarity with Israeli protesters
(New York Jewish Week) — The hundreds of Israelis and American Jews broke out into song as they filed from the wide crossing of the Brooklyn Bridge through a small passageway: “Kol ha’olam kulo, gesher tzar meod,” “The whole world is a narrow bridge; the main thing is to have no fear.”
It was a fitting tune for the moment, and not just because of the setting: Sunday’s procession was part of a protest against Israel’s government at a moment that its leaders and critics both say is pivotal for the country’s future.
Israeli lawmakers on Monday approved the first piece of a package of judicial legislation that would bar their Supreme Court from striking down government decisions it deems “unreasonable.”
The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says its election last year means that its move to rein in the judiciary, which it says is out of step with Israel’s right-wing voters, reflects the will of the people. But a large portion of Israelis, along with U.S. Jewish leaders and government officials, say the changes would fundamentally undermine democratic norms.
A protest movement that has grown over half a year, since the legislation was introduced, has swelled to new heights in recent days. Tens of thousands of Israelis have marched on Jerusalem, with a tent city filled with protesters rising in a park near the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. Businesses are closing in protest, army reservists are vowing to boycott their service and the country’s labor union is considering taking action.
The march over the Brooklyn Bridge was part of a global solidarity movement that has flourished in the city with the most Israelis outside of Israel.
“The ties between New York and Israel are so strong and so deep that when there is a crisis over there, as there is now, we feel it viscerally here,” Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine said at a rally following the march. “So I am incredibly proud that over the past 28 weeks, New York City has emerged as one of the global epicenters of the Israel democracy movement.”
The featured speaker was Erel Margalit, a tech entrepreneur and former member of Knesset, who tied the timing of the crisis to Tisha B’Av, the Jewish day of mourning that falls this week. Tisha B’Av commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples in ancient Jerusalem — known as “hurban habayit” in Hebrew — that, according to Jewish tradition, stemmed from hatred among Jews.
“Like every Jerusalemite, I know that extremism and zealousness lead to destruction,” Margalit said. “This time the destruction is happening within us, and we will not let Netanyahu and his government lead us to the third hurban habayit.”
For Rabbi Michelle Dardashti, the setting of the protest was particularly fitting. Earlier this month, she spoke at a rally outside the U.S. Consulate in Tel Aviv, delivering a message that she titled “We are the bridge.”
Dardashti had encouraged her congregants at Brooklyn’s Kane Street Synagogue to attend the rally, which was convened with short notice. One who responded to the invitation was Lisa Podemski, who said she had “mixed feelings” about participating in the protests, not because she supports the legislation but because she was afraid of inflaming anti-Israel sentiment, which she said was prevalent in her field as a public interest attorney.
“I’m not sure who this is for,” she said, questioning whether the prevalence of Hebrew made the protesters’ message inaccessible to others crossing the bridge. Still, she said, she had decided to come for one reason: “I’m a Zionist.”
Other protesters had answers to that question. Danny, a tech worker who moved from Tel Aviv to New York 12 years ago, said he thought it was important to show up even though the current phase of the legislative fight appeared to be lost. He said he thought the biggest risk to Israel’s future was the potential for the rightward shift in politics to drive out the relatively few Israelis who draw high salaries and fuel the economy.
“One thing to keep these people there is to see more people like them, to see that they are not alone,” said Danny, who declined to share his last name.
The demonstrators were mostly Israelis living in New York, and some could be seen Facetiming with relatives in Israel who were at one of the many protests taking place there. Among the American Jews who turned up in solidarity were Alex Edelman, whose Broadway show pillorying antisemitism, “Just For Us,” is running now, and Jake Cohen, the Jewish food influencer.
A contingent turned out from Park Slope Jewish Center in Brooklyn. Joel Levy, a member who retired after a career in the foreign service, said he believed the protests had and could still influence what happens in Jerusalem. He also said his experience working in politically volatile settings abroad had convinced him that concerns about civil war in Israel — which Israeli President Isaac Herzog has warned about, and polls show Israelis fear — are not overblown.
“These things can happen, and they do,” he said.
One of the first to arrive at the meeting point near City Hall in Manhattan was Bonnie Roche, a member of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue on the Upper West Side. She said she hadn’t attended many protests but felt emboldened after her rabbi, Ammiel Hirsh, a longtime critic of of those in the Diaspora who criticize Israel, criticized the legislative proposals.
Roche had driven down from the Upper East Side with a friend, Ilana, who has split her time between New York and Tel Aviv for the last 60 years.
“If somebody would have told me seven months ago that everything would look the way it looks now, I would never have believed it,” said Ilana, who declined to share her last name but said she was involved in supporting the arts in Israel. “The Jewish people in the Diaspora should be worried, too. If Israel is not going to be democratic, then God help the Jews.”
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The post ‘When there is a crisis over there … we feel it viscerally here’: New Yorkers march in solidarity with Israeli protesters appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Trump Says Israel ‘Will Not Exist Within Two Years’ if Harris Elected President During Heated Debate
Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump points towards Democratic presidential nominee and US Vice President Kamala Harris, during a presidential debate hosted by ABC in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, Sept. 10, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump insisted on Tuesday night that his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris would prove catastrophic for Israel if she were to win the White House in November.
Trump argued during his first presidential debate with Harris, the current US vice president, that she “hates” Israel and that her election would lead to the Jewish state’s swift demise. He also took a jab at Harris for allegedly snubbing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by not attending his address to a joint session of the US Congress in July.
“If she’s president, I believe Israel will not exist within two years from now. She hates Israel,” asserted Trump, who served as US president from 2017-2021.
Trump went on to claim that Harris also “hates” people of Arabic descent and that her foreign policy approach would result in a destructive regional war in the Middle East.
“At the same time, in her own way, she hates the Arab population, because the whole place is going to get blown up. Arabs, Jewish people, Israel, Israel will be gone,” Trump said.
The Republican nominee also took a swipe at the Biden administration’s approach to Iran, arguing that its policies have resulted in empowering and enriching the Islamist regime in Tehran.
“Iran was broke under Donald Trump,” Trump said. “Now, Iran has three-hundred billion dollars, because they took off all the sanctions that I had. Iran had no money for Hamas or Hezbollah or any of the 28 different spheres of terror.”
Trump was referring to his decision as president to withdraw from the controversial 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and reimpose harsh economic sanctions on he regime. The Biden administration sought unsuccessfully to renegotiate the nuclear accord and has offered certain sanctions waivers, which according to critics benefit Tehran and allow it to spend more money on supporting terrorism.
US intelligence agencies have long labeled Iran as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism. Supporters of Trump’s policies toward Iran argued in part that they gave the regime less resources to give to its terrorist proxies across the Middle East, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Critics countered that the nuclear deal was a better path to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and that Washington should work to prevent escalation with Tehran.
“They had no money for terror. They were broke. Now, they’re a rich nation. And now, what they’re doing,” Trump continued.
The former president urged the audience to “look at what’s happening to the Houthis and Yemen. Look at what’s going on in the Middle East.”
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia, a US-designated terrorist organization, began disrupting global trade with its attacks on shipping in the busy Red Sea corridor after Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, arguing its aggression was a show of support for Palestinians in Gaza. The Iran-backed movement has also said it will target all ships heading to Israeli ports, even if they do not pass through the Red Sea, and claimed responsibility for attempted drone and missile strikes targeting Israel.
Harris on Tuesday night emphatically denied Trump’s assertion that she harbors animosity toward the Jewish state. She argued that the former president was attempting to distract from his own “weak” foreign policy record.
Harris echoed her previous comments on the ongoing war in Gaza, insisting that “Israel has a right to defend itself” and that “far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”
She added that the war in Gaza must “end immediately” and repeated calls for Israel to strike a ceasefire and hostage deal with the Hamas terrorist group. The Democratic nominee also underscored the need for a “two-state solution” to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The post Trump Says Israel ‘Will Not Exist Within Two Years’ if Harris Elected President During Heated Debate first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israeli TV Stars Call for Immediate Release of Hamas Hostages in New Video Message
Gabriel (played by Michael Aloni) and Rochel (played by Yuval Scharf) in “The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem.” Photo: Yes Studios.
Some of the biggest Israeli television stars are calling for the immediate release of the 101 individuals still held hostage by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip for almost a year now following the Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel.
Actors from “Fauda,” “Shtisel,” “The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem,” “Night Therapy,” “On The Spectrum,” and other popular shows in Israel pleaded for the safe return of the hostages in a video message released on Tuesday by Israel’s Yes TV.
“When we shoot a show, we know the script, we know what the story is, who is against who and we know how the story will end,” they said in the video, with each person stating a different part of the message. “But now, this isn’t a show. These are real people, and their time is running out. This pain is impossible to bear. There’s no air.”
“If they don’t come back, then who are we? Who?” many of them asked. “What does it say about us?”
“How will we look our children in the eyes?” asked Noa Koller, the star and creator of “Rehearsals,” who is also a mother of two. “Our grandchildren?” added “Shtisel” star Sasson Gabay, who is a grandfather.
“There are people alive there,” the actors said repeatedly. “These are their lives, and our lives — all of our lives. We have to bring all of them home, now, now,” they said again and again.
The video also featured “Beauty Queen of Jerusalem” stars Yuval Scharf and Hila Saada, “Fauda” and “The Lesson” star Doron Ben-David, “Fauda” and “Night Therapy” actor Yaakov Zada Daniel, “On the Spectrum” and “Bloody Murray” actress Neomi Levov, Israeli film star Yael Abecassis, “Fire Dance” star Yehuda Levi, “Berlin Blues” actress Shirah Naor, comedian Tom Yaar, comedian and actor Yuval Semo, and others.
The post Israeli TV Stars Call for Immediate Release of Hamas Hostages in New Video Message first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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NYC Art Exhibit With Israeli Artists Commemorating Oct. 7 Attack Focuses on ‘Resilience and Reflection’
A partial view of the canvas painting “Enduring Hope” by Nirit Takele featured in the exhibit “Resilience and Reflection: An Artist Response to October 7th.” Photo: Provided
A new art exhibition opening in New York City on Thursday to honor the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre will showcase a variety of memories, stories, and emotions — including grief, resilience and hope — surrounding the deadly attacks in southern Israel.
“Resilience and Reflection: An Artistic Response to October 7th” will be open to the public at the David Benrimon Fine Art Gallery. The exhibit features 24 works of art from emerging and established Israeli artists, and each piece of art included in the exhibit tells a personal story connected to Oct. 7.
“Art has long been a powerful tool for processing collective trauma and catalyzing communal healing. ‘Resilience and Reflection’ aims not only to remember the lives and stories intertwined with October 7th but also to showcase the incredible capacity of human beings to seek hope and renewal in the face of despair,” according to a released statement about the exhibit.
“Resilience and Reflection” features various mediums, including painting, poems, sculpture, video, and mixed media, “each serving as a personal response and reflection on the events of that day.” A print photo by Benzi Brofman showcasing the Bibas family is a mostly black-and-white image, except for some background color and the bright red hair of the Bibas children Kfir and Ariel.
The entire Bibas family was abducted from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7 and remain held hostage by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. Kfir, the youngest hostage to be abducted by Hamas during its deadly rampage across southern Israel, was 9 months old when he was kidnapped.
One Hebrew language poem is featured in a mixed media piece titled “Handful of Dreams,” by Dede Bandaid and Nitzan Mintz. Its translation reads: “A bed bakes my body like bread/filling it with a handful of dreams/When I open my eyes/How great is the hunger/Woe to the walls.” The artists said that the poem is about “hope, hard reality and big dreams.” The duo also created a collage titled “October” that includes different memories connected to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack.
A hand-carved wooden sculpture of a solitary individual standing beside a small house with a red roof was created my mixed media artist Yarin Didi and is titled “Cut Apart.” It is part of an Oct. 7 sculpture series and was made from oak, olive, and eucalyptus woods. Didi said the small house with a red roof “stands as a testament to the horrors around Gaza on that fateful October 7th.”
“The earth beneath the figure, crafted from olive wood, symbolizes peace with its olive branch. The entire composition — from the figure to the ground and the house — captures emotions too heavy for most to bear or speak of,” he added. “In silence, I create. I carve memories and experiences of that October from wood, teetering between hardship and hope — that change may come, and we might yet find healing and joy.”
Danielle R’Bibo is the curator of the exhibit, and this is her first solo curated show.
“Art allows us to communicate the inexpressible, to process pain, and to find hope amid sorrow,” R’bibo said. “The artists in this exhibition are deeply moved by the opportunity to share their work in America. Through their art, they aim to honor the memories of those lost, bringing a human face to the war. This exhibition is not about politics; it’s about the people — their stories, their pain, and their resilience.”
“Resilience and Reflection: An Artist Response to October 7th” will be open to the public Sept. 12-26 at the David Benrimon Fine Art Gallery.
The post NYC Art Exhibit With Israeli Artists Commemorating Oct. 7 Attack Focuses on ‘Resilience and Reflection’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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