October 11, 2023 MANHATTAN, New York – The NYU chapter of Students Supporting Israel organized a gathering in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to condemn the attacks by Hamas in Israel, and to thank the Israel Defense Forces, and to say “They will never extinguish us”.
Over 200 Jewish participants, almost all New Yorkers or NYU students, prayed for Israelis that were killed in the attack, spoke of the loving traditions of Jewish culture they grew up with in the U.S., and proclaimed “The pain we bring to Hamas will be 100 times greater than what they brought to us.”
The group prayed for the safe return of hostages. A student leader of the group said “Let’s remember all of the innocent civilians killed in cold blood by the terrorists.” After singing the Israeli National Anthem, some participants sang and danced to traditional Jewish songs.
A different group also gathered in Washington Square Park to mourn lives lost in Gaza and Israel. The If Not Now Movement is a Jewish-American movement that calls for de-escalation of Israeli-Palestinian tensions and an end to what the organization calls an apartheid. Group held a public Kaddish prayer for all victims of the recent Hamas attacks and Israel’s bombing of Gaza.
Among some two hundred of people who were in attendance, were those whose loved ones perished in the attacks.
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