BACK TO THE MALL
Jewish groups to return to Washington one year later for ‘Stand Together’ rally
Event to be held just before the start of the JFNA General Assembly; speaker lineup not yet announced
(Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
One year after a record-breaking number of Israel supporters descended on Washington for the “March for Israel,” signaling support for the Jewish state just a month after the Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and drawing attention to the hundreds of hostages that were held in Gaza, the event’s organizers, Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, announced on Wednesday that a similar rally, called “Stand Together – an event of Unity, Strength, and Resilience,” is slated for Sunday, Nov. 10.
This year’s event comes amid a fraught year for Israel and American Jews. In the 12 months since Oct. 7, antisemitism has climbed to unprecedented rates in the U.S., particularly on college campuses; 101 hostages remain held in Gaza and Israel’s war against Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north rages on. The event plans to bring 30,000 Jewish Americans and allies to “Stand with Israel, for the hostages, and against antisemitism. Thank America, the US Military, and our civic partners and allies, Honor heroes and Strengthen our Jewish unity,” according to the organizers.
Scheduled for five days after the presidential election, and hours before JFNA’s 2024 General Assembly kicks off, this year’s rally is slated to be significantly smaller than the “March for Israel,” which drew an estimated 290,000 attendees — a larger turnout than the two largest Jewish community rallies on the National Mall in D.C., during the Second Intifada in 2002 and in support of Soviet Jews in 1987, which drew 100,000 and 250,000, respectively.
For the rally in 2023— which was planned in just over a week— organizers made it a point to schedule the event on a weekday, when Congress was in session and considering emergency supplemental aid to Israel, which Eric Fingerhut, CEO of JFNA, told Jewish Insider at the time was “an important element of this march.” This year’s gathering is scheduled for a Sunday.
A JFNA spokesperson told eJewishPhilanthropy that details on the event’s lineup were not yet available but organizers said it will include public officials, political leaders, celebrities and a musical performance by Israeli singer Idan Raichel.
“It is in the times of greatest adversity that the Jewish community has shown its strength and resilience,” Fingerhut said in a statement on Wednesday. “Now is the time for our community to gather and Stand Together as one in order to show the world that we will not back down, we will not disavow our values, we will not give in to antisemitism, and we will not be divided.”
Added William Daroff, CEO of the Presidents Conference, in a separate statement, “The Jewish people are resilient and have long fought against antisemitism, adversity, and impossible odds. This painful situation is no different and at Stand Together, we will reaffirm our strength as a community standing together against hate and antisemitism, and standing with the State of Israel.”