An Eyewitness Account of the Historic Washington March For Israel Rally

By: Lieba Nesis

I first heard of the Tuesday November 14th “March For Israel” parade on the Instagram page of celebrity Jessica Seinfeld imploring Jews to show support for their beleaguered nation.  Six weeks after the devastating Hamas slaughter the need to show solidarity with the IDF soldiers was more imperative than ever.  The logistics of arranging for the transportation of hundreds of thousands within a week’s time was formidable.  Heralded as a highest Level 1 Security event reserved for Super Bowls and World Series I was surprised at the loosely guarded entrance. Hundreds of delayed buses from New Jersey, Connecticut, Riverdale, Manhattan and the Five Towns were sold-out within days leaving thousands of rally enthusiasts at home.

I left two days early ensuring logistics wouldn’t impede the necessity of attending the groundbreaking event.  As a photojournalist who has attended dozens of rallies and conferences given by AIPAC, CPAC, NORPAC, and any other PAC you can think of-this 1 PM happening stood out.  The feeling of unity, togetherness and single-mindedness of the group after the traumatic October 7th experience was transformative.  I was one of the last to leave the afternoon and walked through the streets of Washington in an astonished daze. Arriving at the venue at 12:30 PM I witnessed thousands being turned away as wristbands were no longer available due to the burgeoning crowds.  Students comprised a majority of the participants as Yeshivas such as North Shore Hebrew Academy, Shalhevet High School in California and Yeshiva University sent their best and brightest.

The sun was beating down on the National Mall and yet there was a briskness in the air that enlivened the crowd.  Everyone attending was thrilled to be doing so as this was the first and only chance the Jewish community had to vent after watching helplessly as dozens of pro-Palestinian protests took over the Harvard, Columbia and University of Pennsylvania campuses. There were placards featuring the images of hostages along with signs demanding “Bring Them Home Now,”  “No Ceasefire” and “Hamas is ISIS.”  The Jews of the United States would no longer be silent as they were during the 1940’s when the Germans decided to covertly send 6 million to their deaths in ovens and concentration camps.  With the advent of social media and Hamas’s grotesque psychological warfare which included videoing bloodied hostages, and mass killings we knew our enemy and we wanted to confront it.

The day began with 17-year-old  Mika Alexander lightheartedly speaking of her IDF brother Edan, a Tenafly New Jersey resident, who was captured along the Gazan border.  Mika was clueless as to the atrocities her brother would be facing as she described anxiously anticipating a laughter filled reunion. Another captured soldier Omer Neutra, was hailed by his mother Orna for his passion for the State of Israel choosing to serve on the Gaza Strip instead of heading to Binghamton College.  She begged the spellbound crowd to fight for her son whose love for sports and family dominated his now endangered life.

There was a lugubrious pall over the massive crowd over the realization that Israel’s survival would be determined within the next couple of months.  If you came to the afternoon to sympathize with Palestinians you were in the wrong place as CNN commentator Van Jones was quickly booed as he declared himself a “peace guy” who was against the bombing of Palestinians.  Debra Messing and Alana Zeitchik also received less than enthusiastic receptions as they decried the killing of Palestinian children.  This was a sphere for Jews to express their own grief for the 1,200 slaughtered on that fateful day.   Columbia University student Noa Fay a black, Native American, Jewish advocate had the right tone as she shouted “we will not be silenced” calling out the 100 Columbia professors who openly stood with Hamas.

Noa said the Jews of diaspora fight, “loudly and peacefully” as illustrated by the massive innocuous Washington rally with dozens of arrests made at tiny pro-Palestine events days later.  Outspoken Jewess Noa is the minority in Columbia which as a hotbed of anti-Semitism has Jews on campus fearful for their lives as the wearing of Arab keffiyehs is widely encouraged with dozens of police officers guarding the campus.  Despite Columbia’s  suspension of groups “Students for Justice in Palestine” and “Jewish Voice for Peace” another disruptive and unauthorized gathering occurred on November 20th with the university illustrating a lack of control. Other students echoed Noa’s frustration during the afternoon as Evangelical pastor John Hagee, who heads the largest pro-Israel organization in the United States Christians United for Israel-spoke powerfully about Israel being “the apple of God’s eye, and his firstborn son.”

Much ado was made about Hagee’s 2005 sermon in which he claimed God allowed Hitler to carry out the Holocaust so Jews could return to Israel-a benign aside that was taken out of context as Hagee is hardly a Nazi sympathizer.  Speaker of the House Mike Johnson similarly wowed when he declared there would be no ceasefire until Hamas “ceased to be a threat to the Jewish state.”  The afternoon which was scheduled to conclude by 3 PM went into overtime as thousands left early to catch their buses which were scheduled to leave by 3:30 PM-while many were delayed as they waited for tardy riders.

Departing early was an unfortunate mistake as the last hour was breathtaking.  Israeli superstars Omer Adam and Ishay Ribo whose stratospheric success has only heightened as they visit hospitals and IDF bases joined together for a heart-wrenching rendition of their mega hit “Halev Sheli” that left audience members in tears. Joined by three ZAKA volunteers who had witnessed the atrocities of Hamas firsthand as they collected body parts from the Nova festival they joined hands for one afternoon only.

The Maccabeats concluded the afternoon with “Am Yisrael Chai” as hundreds of students danced in circles waving American and Israeli flags.  The Conference for Presidents noted that 290,000 participants went through security while 10,000 waited outside as 250,000 live-streamed the afternoon. The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, AP, CNN and Reuters deliberately and falsely placed the number at thousands to diminish the importance of the gathering.

Calling my mother to recount the impactful afternoon she was crying on the other line-she had just finished watching one of the most epic events on television that I had the once-in-a-lifetime privilege of attending.