{"id":90567,"date":"2025-12-05T04:19:59","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T09:19:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=90567"},"modified":"2025-12-05T04:22:57","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T09:22:57","slug":"jewish-new-yorkers-rally-outside-park-east-synagogue-2-weeks-after-anti-israel-protest-there","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/jewish-new-yorkers-rally-outside-park-east-synagogue-2-weeks-after-anti-israel-protest-there\/","title":{"rendered":"Jewish New Yorkers rally outside Park East Synagogue, 2 weeks after anti-Israel protest there"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JOSEPH STRAUSS<\/p>\n

(JTA) \u2014 Hundreds of New York City Jews and their allies braved the cold Thursday evening for a rally outside Park East Synagogue, where pro-Palestinian protesters had demonstrated two weeks prior shouting chants like \u201cGlobalize the Intifada\u201d and \u201cDeath to the IDF.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Rally-goers held signs distributed by UJA-Federation of New York, and braved the 30-degree weather outside Park East Synagogue, Dec. 4, 2025. (Joseph Strauss)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Thursday\u2019s demonstrators carried signs distributed by organizers that read \u201cProud New Yorkers, Jews, Zionists.\u201d Others brought signs from home with messages including \u201cProudly Park East\u201d and \u201cAnti-Zionism is Jew hate is not OK.\u201d Messages from speakers focused mostly on the protesters\u2019 rhetoric and embracing Israel as an important part of Jewish life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis evening we come together representing the scale, strength and diversity of our incredible New York Jewish community,\u201d said Eric Goldstein, CEO of UJA-Federation of New York, which spearheaded the rally. \u201cAnd we gather outside the sacred space that was so violently targeted a few weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

In referring to \u201csacred space,\u201d Goldstein was using the language that Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani used when he responded to the protest in a way that many of his Jewish critics found disappointing. But if it was meant to be an allusion, Goldstein didn\u2019t say. In fact, no one mentioned Mamdani directly from the speaker podium as a number of Jewish elected officials and community leaders addressed the crowd and denounced the rhetoric used by the protesters.<\/p>\n

Joanna Samuels, CEO of the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, came the closest with comments that appeared to allude to criticisms of the incoming mayor, a longtime and staunch devotee to the pro-Palestinian cause.<\/p>\n

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Police blocked off the entire block of 68th Street between Lexington and Third avenues, and were stationed outside the front entrance of Park East. (Joseph Strauss)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe great leaders of our city have sought to unite people of all backgrounds around broad common goals,\u201d she said, adding that New York\u2019s greatest leaders \u201chave not been ideologues.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur great leaders have had the maturity and discipline to get rid of divisive language and rhetoric in service of their love of our city and their love of New Yorkers,\u201d Samuels said. \u201cI invite all of our leaders and our future leaders to uphold these values, and to demand them from those who speak in your name and on your behalf.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rally, which also featured a performance by the musician Mastisyahu, drew both critics and allies of Mamdani in politics. It represents a show of force as Jewish leaders in the city ready themselves for Mamdani\u2019s inauguration on Jan. 1, when the city will go from having a mayor who prides himself on being pro-Israel to having one who has called for its boycott.<\/p>\n

Mamdani was asked about the pro-Israel solidarity rally at an unrelated event earlier on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn those who are rallying today, and on Jewish New Yorkers across the five boroughs, I look forward to being a mayor for each and every one of them, and each and every person who calls the city home,\u201d Mamdani said. \u201cAnd being that mayor means protecting those New Yorkers, it also means celebrating and cherishing those New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Mamdani said two weeks ago that he would continue to \u201cdiscourage\u201d the language used at the Park East protest. But speakers on Thursday called out the protesters in far more explicit terms, saying they used antisemitic rhetoric.<\/p>\n

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Comptroller-elect Mark Levine called out the “hatred” shouted by protesters outside a Nefesh B’Nefesh event. (Joseph Strauss)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Those speakers included Mark Levine, the comptroller-elect who traded endorsements with the mayor-elect, and will be one of the most powerful officials in the city government alongside Mamdani.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are out here in the cold to denounce the hatred that was directed at our fellow Jewish New Yorkers outside of this synagogue,\u201d Levine asserted. \u201cIt is never OK to call for the death of anyone, as these protesters did. It is not OK to obstruct and threaten people entering a house of worship, as these protesters did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Levine himself has been the subject of protests by left-wing groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace, which endorsed Mamdani and, like the mayor-elect, opposes Levine\u2019s intention to invest city funds in Israel bonds.<\/p>\n

Levine also defended attendees of the event inside Park East, which was organized by Nefesh B\u2019Nefesh, a nonprofit that facilitates North Americans\u2019 immigration to Israel, saying, \u201cYou can be interested in immigrating to a country even if you don\u2019t agree with every policy of the government of that country.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cAnd in the case of Israel, one of the most common reasons people are interested in immigrating is to flee antisemitism, which is on the rise in New York and America \u2014 a fact perhaps lost on the protesters, who were busy trying to make the attendees feel unsafe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jewish State Assembly member Micah Lasher, who is running for Congress in the 12th district which includes Park East, commended Levine on social media for his \u201cpowerful words.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lasher arrived at the event alongside Brad Hoylman-Sigal, the Jewish state senator and incoming Manhattan borough president who endorsed Lasher in October.<\/p>\n

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The rally brought Jewish New Yorkers from around the city to the Upper East Side. (Joseph Strauss)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Both politicians had endorsed Mamdani in the general election, as did Assemblymember Alex Bores, one of Lasher\u2019s opponents in the 12th district; Sen. Liz Krueger, who is Jewish; and City Council Member Gale Brewer, who were all present. Meanwhile, another notable attendee \u2014 Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League \u2014 has had an antagonistic relationship with the mayor-elect, who is the subject of the ADL\u2019s \u201cMamdani Monitor.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Mamdani was alluded to in Samuels\u2019 remarks, some attendees said they felt that he should have been discussed explicitly.<\/p>\n

Aaron Herman, a former New York City resident who commuted in from White Plains, in Westchester County north of the city, said he and his rabbi were discussing the subject.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe brought up to me, like, \u2018There\u2019s one thing that was missing during this incredible rally: No one actually mentioned our mayor-elect, Mamdani,\u2019\u201d Herman said. \u201cThe mayor-elect said something wrong. It needs to be addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herman shared a video he took at the rally of Rabbi Avi Weiss, the founder of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, in which Weiss noted that Mamdani had not been mentioned. \u201cWe\u2019re 15 minutes into this rally and I\u2019ve not heard the word Mamdani,\u201d Weiss said. \u201cHe\u2019s the problem. \u2026 I\u2019m so proud of this rally and the people who planned it but don\u2019t be afraid to stand up to the challenge that we face in the future \u2014 and that is the mayor elect, Mamdani.\u201d He then sought to lead others in the crowd in chanting, \u201cMamdani, we are Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Herman and other attendees said they appreciated the event altogether, which brought Jews from around the city to the Upper East Side. Buses were chartered from areas like Riverdale, a Bronx neighborhood with many Israeli and Orthodox Jewish residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was nice to see everyone come together,\u201d said Allison Levy, who was also among the pro-Israel counter-protesters outside the Nefesh B\u2019Nefesh event. \u201cI wish we could do this more often because it seems like we\u2019re really divided, so it was nice that people showed up \u2014 especially considering how cold it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

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