PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Philadelphia Jewish organizations are condemning a demonstration planned for Tuesday evening in Rittenhouse Square, saying the event is meant to celebrate the Hamas attacks in Israel on Oct. 7.

In social media posts promoting the event, organizers used the phrases “Long Live Al Aqsa Flood,” which is the military name Hamas gave to its Oct. 7 operation, as well as “honor the martyrs” and “glory to the resistance.”

Three years after the Hamas attacks in Israel, local Jewish leaders said the effects are still being felt throughout Philadelphia’s Jewish community.

“It was literally like living through a nightmare. It was one of the hardest days of my entire life,” said Jason Holtzman, chief of the Jewish Community Relations Council at the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.

Andrew Goretsky, senior regional director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Philadelphia office, said, “The anniversary should be a moment of mourning and remembrance and resolve and unfortunately it’s turned into a platform for political point scoring or minimization of what happened to both Jewish and non-Jewish victims.”

The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia and the local chapter of the Anti-Defamation League condemned the planned demonstration. So did several state lawmakers.

“It makes our heads spin. We can’t understand how anyone in this society could embrace a group like Hamas and celebrate their terrible actions that day. Even if you feel pain for the Palestinian people – and I feel that pain myself – under no circumstances does that mean that I need to downplay what happened on October 7 and embrace a terrible terrorist group like Hamas,” Holtzman said.

Earlier in the day, a small group of protesters gathered outside the Anti-Defamation League’s Center City office. One sign read: “October 7th is the wake up call for the world to learn about Israel’s crimes for the last 80 years.”

“Most of the world did not know because most of the news does not show all the crimes that Israel has been committing,” said a protester who asked to only be identified as Al Z.

Goretsky said, “You want to protest the policies of Israel? That’s absolutely your right. The fact that you’ve chosen October 7th to do that is meant to cause harm to Jews,” he said.

Local Jewish leaders said they notified law enforcement about the planned demonstration and alerted synagogues and schools in the area.

“I’ve talked to people who will be walking their kids back from their daycare through Rittenhouse Square at that time and our community members are having to figure out which route they’re gonna take, which path they can take so that they don’t have to expose their children to this type of hate,” Holtzman said.

The Philadelphia Police Department’s Civil Affairs Unit said it was aware of the planned events and will have a presence in Rittenhouse Square, along with an increased presence of uniformed patrol officers.

In a statement provided to Action News, Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu, PhD, executive director of CAIR-Philadelphia, said:

“Every human life matters, which is why we oppose all acts of violence against civilians, whether Palestinian, Israeli or anyone else.

In the three years since the Oct. 7th attack, tens of thousands of innocent people have been killed during the Israeli government’s genocide in Gaza. This included mothers, brothers, sisters of our own community members in the Philadelphia region. Americans have experienced an unprecedented and alarming suppression of their First Amendment right to call attention to Israel’s war crimes and genocide.

Our community has been voicing that the United States cannot claim to stand for human rights while enabling policies that put civilian lives at risk. Our government must use its power to protect civilians, uphold international law, and hold accountable those responsible for violations, regardless of who commits them.

Justice is the only way to achieve a lasting peace for Christians, Muslims, Jews, and everyone else in the Holy Land. The past three years and the many decades of death and destruction in the Middle East must come to an end, starting in Gaza.”

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