Busloads of protesters from New Jersey and the tristate area converged on the United Nations Monday to denounce Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was to appear at Columbia University that day and address the UN's General Assembly the next.

Thousands of people came from a host of Jewish and non-Jewish organizations in New York, New Jersey, and even as far afield as California to take part in the protests.

Two busload of juniors and seniors from Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston — about 100 in all — were among the hundreds of Jewish students who joined the UN rally.

The protestors rallied in the dappled shade of Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, across the street from the UN, at the gathering organized just in the past few weeks by the Ad Hoc Coalition for Justice. They were there to express their rage at Columbia for inviting the Iranian president to its venerated podium, and to protest his scheduled presence at the UN.

Speaker after speaker warned of the danger Iran poses — not just to Israel and to Americans, but to the world. From the crowd came bellowed cheers of agreement and yells of "Stop him now!" as protesters waved posters merging a picture of Ahmadinejad with a Nazi swastika. The most prominent posters were the blue and white ones held aloft by hundreds of members of the group Christians United for Israel.

Speakers stressed the need to take strong action to block Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons.

"All options are on the table," said U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), employing a phrase commonly understood to include military action, as he addressed the crowd outside the UN.

Menendez said sanctions and divestment were not enough, and he urged congressional action to confront the threat of a nuclear Iran.
"It is time for the United States to act now," Menendez said.

The only people not joining that chorus were the 20 or so ultra-Orthodox men lined up at the far end of the plaza from the speakers, silently holding up posters opposing Israel's statehood. Two lines of barricades and a couple of stoical police officers separated them from the steady trickle of rally-goers scolding them for their stance.

Davida Stadtmauer, one of the teachers accompanying the Kushner students, said she is indignant that Ahmadinejad would be treated as a dignitary in New York. Her colleague Moshe Schreiber agreed. He teaches Hebrew and classes in pro-Israel advocacy.

Merle Kalishman, chair of the Community Relations Committee of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ, came to the rally with a busload of people representing UJC MetroWest and its supporters.

In July 2006, when the community gathered in blistering heat to call for the release of the three kidnapped Israeli soldiers and express support for Israel during the war in Lebanon, Kalishman collapsed from heat exhaustion. That wasn't going to deter her from attending Monday's gathering, though. "Of course, I came. I come to all of these rallies if I can," she said. She welcomed the presence of the Christian Zionists and their passionate support for Israel.

She was in good company at the rally. Among those with her was Montclair resident Rabbi Daniel Brenner, who heads alumni programming at Birthright Israel, and her neighbor in Livingston, Lawrence Cooper, chair of the Anti-Defamation League's NJ region.

Reflecting on the rally afterward, CRC director Lori Price Abrams said it brought to mind the emphasis in Jewish tradition on what one does, rather than on what one says. "Ahmadinejad has come into this country and tried to have his way with some sophisticated PR," she said, "but it's not what he says that matters, it's what he does — sponsoring the insurgency in Iraq and terrorists in Israel and developing nuclear armaments."

She stressed that in dealing with Iran, for UJC MetroWest and its Jewish Community Foundation their interest is not in military action but in economic and diplomatic options. The organizations' leaders recently resolved to divest from targeted companies involved with Iran's energy sector as a way to cut revenue to the government, and they will be calling on community members to pursue a similar approach. Price Abrams said there is more information in this regard on the UJC MetroWest Web site.

Vito Delbuono isn't Jewish or a regular at pro-Israel events, but the burly, tattooed political science graduate from Fordham University in the Bronx said he was so appalled by Columbia's invitation to Ahmadinejad, he had to come.

The Rev. Katherine Fosse and her friend Wendy Sundseth had come all the way from Minneapolis just to attend the rally. They held up a long banner that read, "We will not forget the Holocaust or 9/11."

"God told me to come, and to have a banner saying this," Fosse said.

The church she works with, In Christ International Ministries, belongs to Christians United for Israel, the umbrella group that brought hundreds of placard-bearing supporters to the rally. Pastor Victor Styrsky, the California regional director of CUFI, was among the speakers.

Tom Stewart and John Valencia, CUFI members from Toms River, said it was their first time at such a gathering.

"I just feel it's important that we all stand together to support Israel," Stewart said.