WASHINGTON, D.C. — A sea of blue and white engulfed the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday as tens of thousands attended the March for Israel. It came after Hamas fighters attacked the country and took hostages, triggering a deadly war.
Attendees, including those from North Carolina, heard from a number of speakers, including celebrities and a bipartisan group of lawmakers amid heavy security.
“The survival of the state of Israel and her people unites us and unites all Americans,” said Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. “Hamas wants to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth, so let me be clear: We will never let that happen.”
Organizers of the rally said the goal was to demand the release more than 200 hostages taken by Hamas, show support for Israel and speak out against antisemitism.
“The Jewish people are really hurting,” said Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte Israel & Global Jewry Associate Noah Goldman.
Noah Goldman attends Tuesday’s rally in Washington, D.C., with about 150 others from Charlotte. (Spectrum News 1/Reuben Jones)
Spectrum News 1 spoke with Goldman in 2018 in Charlotte after he said someone put a picture of a swastika under his door while he was a student at Queens University.
Now, five years later, he said the level of antisemitism has only increased. Goldman attended Tuesday’s rally with a group of about 150 people from Charlotte.
“What I experienced four, five years ago pales in comparison,” Goldman said. “We’ve seen violence and threats and really inappropriate language that’s been used towards the Jewish community.”
Preliminary figures compiled by the Anti-Defamation League show that after the Hamas attack and retaliatory airstrikes by Israel on the Gaza Strip, antisemitic incidents in the U.S. spiked compared with the same period the previous year.
Israel has faced heavy criticism for its military action in the Palestinian territories.
Just this month tens of thousands of people gathered in D.C. for a pro-Palestinian march, pushing for a cease-fire in Gaza where the Hamas-run Health Ministry says thousands of people have died.
But Goldman said Tuesday’s rally isn’t about the politics of war. He said it’s about showing support for the Jewish community.
“We’re here to support the people of Israel, the Jewish people. The politics of the Israeli government’s not prevalent to most of us here,” Goldman said.