Hundreds rally at UN to urge world leaders to address antisemitism

JTA – Hundreds of members of New York’s Jewish community competed against stand-still traffic, security details, and dozens of black SUVs on Wednesday night to reach Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza near the United Nations. 

Their plea? For world leaders at the global body’s annual General Assembly to take antisemitic violence seriously. 

“This week world leaders are gathered in our city, right down the street at the United Nations, to discuss global challenges,” Eric Goldstein, chief executive of the UJA-Federation of New York, said in his opening remarks. “But we know that they are not addressing the rampant proliferation of antisemitism across the world.” 

Organised by United Jewish Appeal (UJA) and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, the evening rally featured a number of interfaith speakers, as well as survivors of various antisemitic hate crimes around the world from Nova to Bondi Beach. 

Devorah Halberstam, whose son Ari was murdered on the Brooklyn Bridge in 1994 in a terror attack, gave an impassioned speech, imploring world leaders to “tell your people: Take this message back to your countries. Antisemitism must stop. Not tomorrow. Not when it becomes politically expedient. Right now.” 

A number of speakers criticised New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, questioning whether he could truly be a mayor to New York City’s Jews who fundamentally disagree with him on Israel. Anti-Defamation League chief executive Jonathan Greenblatt called out a more general “deliberate passivity in the face of antisemitism,” likening it to complicity. 

Also speaking on Wednesday was George Zamot, a United Parcel Service driver who intervened in July’s stabbing attack on the Upper West Side, in which a Jewish man and an Asian man were wounded. 

While some speakers focused on the dangers of antisemitism, a few addressed moments of community that resulted from such terrible events. 

In a display of unity, Nova festival survivor Shalev Biton gave remarks while also translating the remarks of Younes Alkarnawi, the Bedouin man who saved his life. 

The rally’s audience dwindled as the evening wore on, and a small group of counter-protesters from the anti-Zionist group Neturei Karta became increasingly loud. 

The demonstration follows recent public gatherings addressing antisemitism in New York City, including a prayer vigil held last week by two Orthodox Jewish schools outside Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence. 

It also marks a pivot towards more community advocacy within the scope of UJA’s work. 70 Faces Media, the parent company of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, receives UJA funding. 

In an interview earlier this week with eJewishPhilanthropy, UJA’s executive vice-president for community strategy and external relations, Hindy Poupko, called the Wednesday evening rally “an attempt to ensure that our narrative doesn’t get drowned out during this UN week”.