AFSI logo
AFSI logoIsrael News photo: (file)
An American pro-Israel organization is planning to lead a demonstration in front of the Israeli consulate in New York on Sunday against the government's declared policy of freezing further construction by Jews in Judea and Samaria.

The event is being called an "urgent anti-freeze demonstration" by Americans for a Safe Israel (AFSI). "People of conscience will gather to protest against the immoral, illegal, discriminatory construction freeze in Judea and Samaria, ordered by [Prime Minister] Binyamin Netanyahu," the organization's publicity material says.

AFSI is intending to have protesters carry Chanukah menorahs, holiday candelabras, as the event is scheduled for the second day of the eight-day festival. "The warmth and courage of the Chanukah lights will melt the freeze," AFSI declared.

Organization members are preparing signs that will carry messages such as: "Let My People Grow"; "End the Freeze of Appeasement"; "Likud - Honor Your Mandate to Preserve the Land of Israel"; "Bibi - You were elected to serve Israel, NOT the U.S."; "Obama - Stop Iranian Nukes - Not Jewish Homes"; "Obama – There will be NO Evacuation of Jewish homes – Make no such promises"; and "Jews are the Chosen People – Never Frozen".

The messages echo, and in some cases are identical to, the signs carried at the large protest in Jerusalem on Wednesday against the construction freeze. Tens of thousands took part in that demonstration.

According to AFSI, speakers at the New York protest "will be grassroots activists following the cry of Judah Maccabee: 'All who are faithful follow me!'"

Founded in 1970, AFSI is dedicated to supporting the rights of Jews to live, thrive and expand their communities in all of the Land of Israel, free from outside interference. AFSI is thus self-described as "a major political support group for the Jewish communities of Judea, Samaria and the Golan". The organization also asserts that a strong, territorially defensible Israel is essential to U.S. security interests in the Middle East.

The AFSI rally is slated for 11:00 a.m. on December 13, outside the Israeli diplomatic offices on 42nd Street and Second Avenue in New York City.