At pro-Israel rally, local attendees feel strength and pride in numbers

by Jill Huber
NJJN Bureau Chief/Monmouth

Members of Monmouth County’s Jewish community raised their voices along with 35,000 attendees who gathered at the Sept. 20 Israel solidarity rally in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza across from the United Nations in New York City.

In addition to showing support for the Jewish state, they were there to protest the presence of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the 61st UN General Assembly and to remind the world of the ongoing captivity of three Israeli soldiers who were kidnapped in July by Hizbullah extremists.

A bus chartered by the Jewish Federation of Greater Monmouth County and the Ocean County federation transported 43 individuals to the rally.

The Sept. 20 rally was another way for Hy and Sylvia Pardes of Ocean Township to voice their commitment to Israeli solidarity. For them, it’s also a personal issue: The couple has children and other family members who live in Israel, and Sylvia Pardes is president of the New Jersey Parents of North American Israelis.

“We would feel strongly about Israeli solidarity in any case, but it’s especially important to us since our two daughters and their families live there now,” she said. “We go to every rally and parade that shows support for Israel.”

It’s critically important that all Jews be encouraged to know the “perpetrators and the victims,” added Hy Pardes.

“Everyone needs to know the facts,” he said. “You have to have accurate information so you can be supportive. What kind of Jews would we be if we didn’t show our support during these critical times?”

The actions of Hizbullah and Hamas must be checked, said Hal Crane of Morganville, who has family members living in and near Haifa.

“These groups are utterly cruel and they relish their cruelty,” said Crane. “It’s what drives them in their lives, and it’s unfathomable.”

Members of the eighth-grade class from the Solomon Schechter Academy of Ocean and Monmouth Counties in Howell attended the rally with academy teacher Janette Vitenzon, who spent many years living and teaching in the Negev before coming to the United States in 1990.

“These kids are so connected to Israel,” she said. “Last year’s eighth-graders went to Israel and our school made them a ‘Welcome Home’ poster when they returned. They thanked us and then told us that this was not their home: Israel was their home. They have pledged themselves to maintaining Israel’s survival.”

And this year’s class is equally committed to the survival of Israel, said Sara Weiss, 13, of Howell. “We want the people in Israel to know there’s still hope,” she said. “We’ll never give up on them.”

For Rebecca Amalfitano of Manalapan, it was a chance for her daughter, Natalie, to see social action in progress, and the message wasn’t lost on the 15-year-old.

“If you can make a difference, then you have to do it,” Natalie Amalfitano said. “Tell the people of Israel that you support them. Spread the word!”