Natan Sharanksy told the crowd the KGB told him he was all alone while in prison in the Soviet Union, but he didn’t believe them. Photo by Perry Bindelglass/ Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations At the March for Israel Rally, a crowd estimated to be more than 290,000 gathered at the National Mall, with many more watching the livestream. It featured politicians, actors and student and community leaders. Here are some of the more memorable things that were said:
“We all have third-degree burns on our souls. Our hearts are bruised and seeping with misery but the real souls suffering are those of the hostages … why is the world accepting that 240 human beings from almost 30 countries have been stolen and buried alive?”
– Rachel Goldberg, mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was wounded and kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from the Nova Music Festival on October 7.
“As a descendant of Holocaust survivors on both sides, he understood the importance of a strong Israel … from a place of deep pain, we hold strong for you Omer. We speak in your name, tirelessly …”
-Orna Neutra, mother of Omer Neutra, a lone solider kidnapped by Hamas on October 7.
“The pain I have experienced since they were taken has been so sharp it follows my every beath. I wake up each morning to remember this truth: My family is being held hostage by terrorists. I am here with you because I love my family and I promised I would scream to the end of the Earth for them … for too many in the West, the suffering of hostage families like mine has become a footnote.”
–Alana Zeitchik, whose cousins were kidnapped by Hamas terrorist from Kibbitz Nir Oz on October 7, including Sharon, her husband David, their 3-year-old twin daughters Emma and Yuli, as well as Danielle and 5-year-old daughter Amelia.
“In the long years in prison I was told again and again that I’m alone, that I’m abandoned, that we failed … you were bringing so much love and so much strength to us. This picture of one Jewish fighting family was always in my head and that’s why it was so clear that whatever will be my personal fate, the outcome of our struggle can be only our victory … We in Israel go through difficult days. We go from one funeral of the soldier who fell fighting against Hamas yesterday and another funeral of the family who was tortured and killed five weeks ago but was identified only now. And in between you go to the family whose children were kidnapped, became hostages … how (do) you keep going? You keep going by doing it together.”
-Natan Sharansky, imprisoned in Russia from 1977 to 1986, before eventually becoming a deputy prime minister of Israel. He now works against antisemitism.
“I know you are in pain. I know you are afraid. I know you feel alone and abandoned by people you thought were your friends. I know you feel misunderstood and maligned. I know because I do too … we are all being tested; a tsunami of hate has crashed down upon us and then a deafening silence. We see clearly now. We see naked, virulent Jew-hatred being disguised as a noble call for liberation and we reject it … what does Israel’s defense in response to a terrorist attack have to do with an elderly Jewish man in California killed for holding an Israeli flag. This is madness. This is terrorism. But we will win. We always have …”
-Debra Messing, actress and star of “Will & Grace.”
“We come to together to march for good over evil … 80 years ago, Jews came out of Auschwitz and vowed never again … Never again is now. The Hamas savagery and crimes against humanity bring to my mind as President Biden has said, the worst rampages of ISIS … we feel our hearts beat as one. We hear our brothers’ and sisters’ blood crying out to us from the ground. Once again in Jewish history, we demand, ‘let our people go.’”
–Issac Herzog, Israel’s President
“Not everyone whose calling for a ceasefire wants Israel to cease to exist. But everyone who wants Israel to cease to exist is calling for a ceasefire.”
-U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.)
My name is Tovah Feldshuh. My Hebrew name is Tova Feldshuh. And my Starbucks name is Toval Feldshuh …we stand here firm against global antisemitism. We stand here firm in confrontation of antisemitism here in these United States. We stand here to say, ‘enough, maspeek.’”
-Tovah Feldshuh, Film, TV and Broadway actress.
“These lies are spreading again. The violence is rising again. The threat is real again…this is a moment that we will all remember forever and what we do right now in this moment will stay with us for the rest of our lives.”
–Montana Tucker, Actress, Influencer and creator of Holocaust remembrance film “How To Never Forget.”
I don’t know about you but a lot of friends turned their backs on me this month. I feel betrayed in a way I never thought possible. These so-called friends, they were never really our friends. They were never really there for us. They never really saw us for how we deserved to be seen, as beautiful, as special, as excellent and the fact is they might never see us for who they really are. But we see them. We see them now oh so clearly. We see that these oh so fake former friends are nothing but cowards.”
– Brett Gelman, actor who appeared on Netflix’s “Stranger Things.”
“Today our thoughts are with the victims and survivors of October 7th, with the innocent Israelis and Palestinians suffering because of Hamas’ terror and with the families with empty seats at the dinner table. Today our thoughts are with the brave soldiers of Israel’s defense forces as they defend the state of Israel and the Jewish people.”
-Julie Platt, Chair of Jewish Federations of North America
“My heart breaks for all the Israeli children. My heart breaks for all the Palestinian children…I pray that every single hostage is released.”
-Van Jones, CNN political commentator, attorney and best-selling author.
“All America’s listening. The Jewish people will not back down. Bring our hostages back.”
-Matisyahu, Grammy nominated artist who performed “One Day” with The Maccabeats.
“Allow no one to make you afraid.”
-Deborah Lipstadt, historian author and Ambassador/ special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism for the Biden administration.
“There will not be a ceasefire until the hostages are home…Israel is not going anywhere. Jewish people are not going anywhere…stay safe and make sure you stay disruptive.”
-Michael Rapaport, Actor and comedian
“When we hear genocidal chants, my GW peers and I from organizations like Chabad GW, GW for Israel and GW Hillel, we sing “Hatikva.” And “Oseh Shalom…”
– Sabrina Soffer, a student at George Washington University, Commissioner of the university’s Special Presidential Task Force To Combat Antisemitism and vice president of the campus Chabad. The school has had a number of antisemitic incidents.
“I am a Black, Native American, Jewish woman and I will not be silenced. No matter how many anti-Israel demonstrations I must walk past on my way to class, no matter how many of my professors support the students defending Hamas, no matter how many times we are told to cower in fear, I will continue to shout.”
-Nao Fay, student at Columbia University
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