In New York, thousands of people demonstrate solidarity with Israel
It is the city with the largest number of Jews in the world outside of Israel: New York hosted, on Tuesday, a few meters from the United Nations headquarters, a gathering of thousands of people in support of the Jewish state.
American Jewish organizations, at the initiative of the gathering, invited New York leaders but also representatives of the very right-wing government in Jerusalem to speak. Thus, the Israeli ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, was applauded when he proclaimed that the “Jewish people” in Israel and the United States was not “not divided”. Hamas members have “wanted to massacre us when he thought we were most vulnerable, but they made a mistake”asserted the Israeli diplomat. “The free world is not divided. We all stand together as one united front, one people, one heart, to fight the forces of evil”he shouted to the crowd waving Israeli flags.
New York Mayor Eric Adams, who was recently in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, also said that“Israel had the right to defend itself”. “Your fight is ours”assured the city councilor.
Since Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on October 7, New York, where nearly two million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Muslims live, has been the scene of tense demonstrations: on one side, support for the Palestinian cause , on the other hand, rallies to defend Jews and Israel.
Thanks to the municipal police (NYPD) and that of the State of New York, “we are together to protect each of you, we will continue to protect you”launched to the crowd Kathy Hochul, governor of New York State which has 20 million inhabitants, including nine in New York City alone.
In 2020 in the United States, according to the Pew Research Center, there were 5.8 million Jewish adults, religious or not, to which are added 2.8 million adults who claim a Jewish parent. And the country has about 4.5 million Muslims, including 600,000 to 750,000 in New York.