‘Bring them home’ chants replace usual festive mood at New York’s annual parade for Israel
Spectators at the Israel Parade on June 02, 2024. Photo by Jacob Kornbluh
By Jacob Kornbluh June 2, 2024
Chants of “Bring them home” replaced the traditional “Am yisrael chai” — Hebrew for “the people of Israel live” — by tens of thousands of marchers and spectators during the annual Celebrate Israel parade that marched Sunday morning down Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.
This somber rallying cry came amid the backdrop of President Joe Biden’s speech on Friday, which outlined a proposal, agreed upon by the Israeli government, that could lead to the release of all the hostages and an end to the nearly eight-month-long war in Gaza.
The annual event, organized by the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, had a large presence of New York Police Department officers, which stepped up security due to tensions surrounding the war. They ensured the separation of the crowd from pro-Palestinian demonstrators. The usual gathering spot for anti-Israel protesters at the plaza at 59th Street was closed off, and demonstrators were kept a block away from the parade route.
“Our message is extremely clear: Destroy Hamas, bring home the hostages,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said as he marched alongside relatives of the American hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. “Today you’re seeing solidarity. We don’t want to see any innocent person die, but we have to deal with the hate of Hamas and it must be dismantled and destroyed.” Adams was joined by Eden Golan, Israel’s contestant in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö last month, who withstood public protests and came in 5th place.
The parade, in its 60th year, is known as the largest annual celebration of Israel’s independence in the diaspora. With more than 200 Jewish civic and religious groups, representing a spectrum of interests and denominations, the parade featured floats, bands and dance troupes that made their way north from 55th to 74th Streets and attracted senior Israeli and New York politicians.
“We will not relent, we will not back down,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said ahead of the parade. “We must bring them home.” Leading several chants to release the hostages, Schumer also emphasized the need to defeat Hamas.
Most of the Democratic elected officials didn’t directly address President Biden’s Friday speech, which outlined a three-phase plan initially proposed by Israel aimed at ultimately securing the release of all hostages and a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted to having presented the proposal to the U.S., Qatari and Egyptian mediators. However, amid domestic pressure and threats from far-right members of his coalition to topple the government, he insisted that Israel’s terms for ending the conflict remained destroying Hamas’s military and governance structures, liberating all hostages and ensuring that Hamas no longer threatens Israel.
The mood at this year’s parade did not reflect the political upheaval abroad, with Israelis frustrated at the government’s failure to protect them on Oct. 7, and the lack of a hostage deal. Last year, amid the Israeli government’s judicial overhaul, Israeli cabinet ministers were shouted down by protesters while senior Democratic officials marched with pro-democracy activists.
The growing public call for a permanent ceasefire was also not showcased along the route, but for a small group of Israeli activists who have rallied weekly in recent months for a “bilateral ceasefire” in Gaza.
Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz was met with chants of “Shame! Shame!” by a group advocating for the release of the hostages.
On Friday, a group of Israel ex-pats and Jewish progressives attempted to hand deliver a letter – signed by more than 500 people – to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, demanding that she skip the parade if the Israeli government ministers are allowed to march. Hochul marched in the parade.
Earlier on Sunday, Rep. Tom Suozzi, Democrat of New York, urged Americans to advocate for the release of the eight U.S. hostages in captivity in a news conference with his Democratic colleagues Ritchie Torres and Dan Goldman, alongside the families of, Omer Neutra, a hostage from Long Island, and Itay Chen, who was killed on Oct. 7 and whose body was taken into Gaza.
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