The UJA-Federation of New York, JCRC-New York and a number of other partners organized a rally outside the United Nations on Wednesday evening called the “No More Excuses Rally.”
Both Jewish and non-Jewish speakers aimed to send a message to work leaders about the growing wave of antisemitism and what needs to be done to stop it.
People who attended the rally held up posters that read “Enough is enough,” “The world must act,” and “Stop antisemitism now.”
Rabbi Yossi Levine, of The Jewish Center, told the crowd, “students of history know that hatred never stays nearly in its lane. It metastasized; it poisons everything it touches. Antisemitism is not a Jewish problem; it’s an American problem.”
The UJA-Federation of New York said it has an action plan.
“We’re asking world leaders to adopt the IRA definition of antisemitism,” Hindy Poupko, the executive vice president of the UJA-Federation of New York, told NY1. “We’re asking them to adopt national action plans to confront antisemitism, provide more funding for Jewish security in their local Jewish institutions, and to work with social media companies and AI companies to ensure that those platforms are not used to spread more hate and misinformation about our community.”
Many speakers talked about how antisemitism is the oldest form of hate.
“Lies about Israel have become the newest disguise for the oldest hatred. Mind you, criticism of any government is fair, it’s legitimate, it’s democracy itself,” Darius Jones, the president of the National Black Empowerment Council, said. “But when criticism becomes collective blame, when it becomes demonization, when it denies an entire people legitimacy and the right to exist, that’s not criticism. That is that ancient hatred resurrected and weaponized.”
The speakers did not talk about their stance on the Israeli government or the Israel-Hamas war.
The position of the UJA-Federation of New York is that the state of Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state, but it does not take a stance on Israeli policy.
Many in the crowd are deeply concerned about the rise of antisemitism and the weaponisation of the word Zionist.
“I’m dismayed how people misunderstand what the meaning of Zionism is. That Zionism is intrinsic to Jewish culture, Jewish peoplehood, and the Jewish nation, and Jewish religion,” Frieda Hershman Huberman told NY1. “One can support Israel without supporting everything that Bibi does, just like one can be a proud American and support America without supporting everything that President Trump does.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to speak in front of the assembly on Thursday, and there are mass protests planned around his speech.