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Small group, big message Nov. 15-21, 2024 • Vayera • 14 Cheshvan 5785 • Vol 23, No 39
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Hardly anyone showed up at Washington rally, but those who did were inspired by words and music reminding that ‘Am Yisrael Chi’
What if they organized a rally and no one came? In the case of Sunday’s “Stand Together: An Event of Unity, Strength and Resilience” event, only about 2,500 people filled seats in the 41,000-capacity National Stadium in Washington, DC. But while the crowd was small
compared to the nearly 300,000 people who packed the National Mall one year ago, those who attended heard passionate and inspiring speakers and lively entertainment. Sunday’s event was organized by the Jewish Federations of North America and the Con-
ference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Two-hundred partner organizations were invited, and an estimated 2,000 people scheduled to attend the JFNA General Assembly the next day were also asked to attend. Organizers first predicted that 40,000 peo-
Montana Tucker: Spreading the word
Progressive Torres: Why I back Israel Rep. Ritchie Torres, the gay Black Latino progressive Democrat whose Bronx district includes Riverdale, is one of Congress’ most outspoken supporters of Israel and fighters against antisemitism. After JFNA presented him with its Yitro award, here’s what he said.
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ike many of you, I feel like we live in a world that has lost its mind. We live in an alternate reality where evil has become good, and wrong has become right, and Israeli selfdefense has become aggression, and antisemitic terrorism See Torres on page 2
ple would attend, then 30,000. In the middle of the five-hour rally, the emcee, actor and comedian Tiffany Haddish, asked: “Where are all the Jews out there, anyway?” Coverage below and on pages 2 and 3. JFNA photos by Stephen Jaffe and Larry Levin.
Relatives of hostages Keith Siegel, Omer Neutra, Yair and Eitan Horn, Arbel Yehoud, Oded Lifshitz, Sagui Dekel Chen and Itay Chen, hold posters picturing their loved ones, beneath a giant photo of 5-year-old hostage Ariel Bibas, brother of 1-1/2 year-old hostage Kfir Bibas.
Montana Tucker, an America singer, songwriter, actress, dancer, videographer and social media celebrity, opened the day’s program with these remarks. very day on my social media platforms, I am sharing the real and raw stories of those whose lives have
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been forever altered — hostages, survivors clinging to the pieces of their former lives, and families waiting for answers. When I walked the Grammys red carpet this year, I chose to wear a dress with a yellow ribbon reading, “bring See Montana on page 2
Amsterdam blames ‘hateful and racist’ Israelis
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In its first report on the mass assaults on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam, the city’s government has accused the Israelis of chanting “hateful and racist songs against Arabs.” This language, which appeared in the fifth sentence of the 12-page report published on Monday, marked a shift from city officials’ earlier rhetoric, including Mayor Femke Halsema’s statement that “there is no excuse” for the assaults. Herman Loonstein, a prominent Dutch-Jewish lawyer, accused the municipality of victimblaming, telling JNS that the document suggests that “the Jews did it.” The report, titled, “Violence in Amsterdam Around the Ajax-Maccabi Match,” was published ahead of a debate scheduled for Tuesday about the events of Nov. 7, when at least 100 Arabs perpetrated a coordinated series of assaults against
Police face off against anti-Israel protesters at Dam Square in Amsterdam on Nov. 10. Robin van Lonkhuijsen
Israeli soccer fans following a match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and the local Ajax team. It was the largest-scale series of antisemitic incidents in the Netherlands since the Holocaust and one of the largest events of its kind in Europe in recent decades. The report’s release coincided with a fresh wave of unrest in Amsterdam that featured the torching of a tram amid antisemitic shouts about “cancer Jews” and anti-Israel protest actions across Amsterdam and Utrecht. Israeli President Isaac Herzog called the Nov. 7 event a “pogrom,” as did many locals, including Geert Wilders, leader of the Netherlands’ largest political party and a partner in the ruling coalition. Wilders tweeted following the tram’s torching: “First a Jew hunt, now intifada.” He has called for deporting all perpetrators of the See Amsterdam on page 2 Nov. 7 assaults.