The New York City Dyke March deleted and apologized for a post to social media condemning antisemitism and saying that Jews are welcome that was made ahead of Saturday's match in Manhattan.
The original Instagram post read, "We have received many messages over the last several months, asking the committee members of Jewish Dykes are safe and welcome to the 2024 NYC Dyke March. The answer is yes. As a committee, we want to reiterate our position that we stand against antisemitism in all forms."
The post also acknowledged the "senseless loss of Jewish life" during the October 7 massacre, though it contained multiple paragraphs accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, and focusing on the plight of the Palestinian Arabs. It also claimed that all of the people who have been killed in Gaza have been civilians.
This post was removed within an hour of its posting, with a new post apologizing for it taking its place.
The second post read, "Late at night on June 27, a member of the Dyke March Committee posted a statement on our Instagram. The statement was approved by several other committee members. However, it was published without a full committee-wide vote and does not reflect the official stance of the Dyke March (emphasis in original). The post was a mistake. Therefore, within 30 minutes we deleted it."
"We take full responsibility and apologize for the process and communication breakdown that led us here, as well as the harm our statement caused. Dyke March unapologetically stands in support of Palestinian liberation. This moment is a critical reminder to our committee to remain firm in our stance that anti-Zionism is not antisemitism, and any language we put out which is not clearly opposed to a Zionist, imperialist agenda is harmful to all," the second post continued.
The march was held on Saturday under the title 'Dykes Against Genocide.' The organization's website called it "a protest march, not a parade."
While the Dyke March stated that the event was meant to call attention to multiple conflicts and genocides, including the conflicts in The Congo, Sudan, Ukraine, Ethiopia, Haiti, and Myanmar, the vast majority of posters and items carried by marchers during the event that named any specific conflict focused on the conflict between Israel and Hamas and attacked Israel.
Multiple Dyke Marches have been at the center of antisemitism controversies in recent years. In 2017, three women were ejected from the Chicago Dyke March for waving rainbow flags emblazoned with Jewish stars.
Two years later, Jewish and Israeli symbols were banned from the Washington DC Dyke March