Jews and other pro-Israel supporters in cities in the United States and France gathered yesterday to express their solidarity with the State of Israel, and to condemn PLO sponsored terrorism. In New York City at least 12,000 strong gathered at the Dag Hammerskjold Plaza opposite the United Nations to demand that Israel, as the US in Afghanistan, not be constrained in combating terror. US Senator Charles Schumer and Congressmen Eliot Engel and Jerrold Nadler delivered fiery speeches in support of the Jewish State.
Rabbi Avi Weiss, national president of CJC-Amcha, and one of the rally’s organizers told the group that he had just returned from Israel visiting victims of Arab terror recovering in Israeli hospitals. Speaking in unwavering tones he declared to the group, “We are all here to tell Israel - You are not alone. We are with you.”
In Chicago, over 2,500 people gathered despite a torrential downpour to hear US Congressman Mark Kirk, who is not Jewish, leading chants of Am Yisrael Chai. Rallies were also held in the cites of Washington, Boston, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, and Dallas.
In Paris, France yesterday over 150,000 demonstrators took to the streets in support of Israel and to denounce a wave of recent anti-Semitic attacks on Jewish synagogues, schools, and cemeteries throughout the country. Smaller marches also took place throughout France, in the towns of Strasburg, Lyon, Marseilles, and Toulouse. Just before the march took place, assailants threw petrol bombs at police guarding a French synagogue in Marseilles. Also on Sunday three men hurled Molotov cocktails at officers guarding a Synagogue in the town of Merlan. The Paris rally was the largest Jewish gathering in France in a decade.
Rabbi Avi Weiss, national president of CJC-Amcha, and one of the rally’s organizers told the group that he had just returned from Israel visiting victims of Arab terror recovering in Israeli hospitals. Speaking in unwavering tones he declared to the group, “We are all here to tell Israel - You are not alone. We are with you.”
In Chicago, over 2,500 people gathered despite a torrential downpour to hear US Congressman Mark Kirk, who is not Jewish, leading chants of Am Yisrael Chai. Rallies were also held in the cites of Washington, Boston, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, and Dallas.
In Paris, France yesterday over 150,000 demonstrators took to the streets in support of Israel and to denounce a wave of recent anti-Semitic attacks on Jewish synagogues, schools, and cemeteries throughout the country. Smaller marches also took place throughout France, in the towns of Strasburg, Lyon, Marseilles, and Toulouse. Just before the march took place, assailants threw petrol bombs at police guarding a French synagogue in Marseilles. Also on Sunday three men hurled Molotov cocktails at officers guarding a Synagogue in the town of Merlan. The Paris rally was the largest Jewish gathering in France in a decade.