250 Rally For Palestine, Ceasefire

Roughly 250 Jewish New Haveners and their allies rallied on the steps of City Hall and then outside of U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s office downtown calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. 

They also demanded that their elected officials speak out to end America’s military support of what speaker after speaker termed a ​“genocidal” war against Palestinians in Gaza — in the latest example of how New Haveners are trying to interpret and reckon with the ongoing bloodshed in the Middle East.

The rally was organized by the local chapter of the national grassroots organization Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and the local New Haven-grown Mending Minyan.

Their leaders Shelly Altman and Mikveh, respectively, led chants of: ​“Never Again is Now,” ​“End the Occupation Now,” ​“Palestinians have a right to live in freedom,” and ​“No more weapons, no more wars, peace is what we’re fighting for.” They also referenced the rising bombing deaths and humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza, and called on local leaders to acknowledge the tragedy and death befalling Palestinians (as they have Israelis).

“Your recent letter to our New Haven community focused on Hamas’ heinous disregard for human life,” reads a letter written by Altman and delivered to Mayor Justin Elicker’s office on Wednesday. ​“I join many in calling their murder of hundreds of Israeli civilians a war crime. We are all devastated by it. Your letter further goes on to say that Hamas must be ​‘dismantled and destroyed’. Does this suggest that the public health catastrophe created by wanton bombing and forced population transfer in Gaza is unfortunate but necessary?”

That letter continues: ​“It’s a myth that Jews in Israel and Jews like us in the diaspora can be safe while Israel goes on committing the crimes of apartheid, as documented in detailed reports by Amnesty International, B’Tselem and others. It’s irresponsible for politicians and community leaders to minimize and dismiss the harsh reality of occupation and siege, the home demolitions, the land and resource theft, the child abuse, the movement restrictions, the settler pogroms, the rationing of basic necessities, the denial of any future to look forward to for the youth of Palestine.” 

Click here and here to read in full Altman’s letters sent to Elicker’s and DeLauro’s offices on Wednesday.

The local protest took place against the brutal backdrop of a deadly hospital bombing in Gaza that U.S. and Israeli governments have said was caused by an errant rocket fired by a Palestinian armed group. It also came less than two weeks after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas terrorists that left roughly 1,300 Israelis dead and hundreds more missing or kidnapped, leading to Israeli airstrikes of the Gaza Strip that the Palestinian Health Ministry has said have killed more than 2,800 Palestinians.

New Haveners have taken to the streets multiple times since the start of the Israel-Hamas war to grieve and shout and try to make sense of the carnage. Click here to read about two dueling pro-Palestine and pro-Israel rallies outside of City Hall on Oct. 9, and here to read about a pro-Israel vigil outside of City Hall on Oct. 13.

After delivering their letter to the office of Mayor Elicker on Wednesday, the large, but orderly group, escorted by Downtown District Manger Lt. Brendan Borer and his officers, then made their way up Church Street

The group, passionate but professional in the protesting, then snaked across Elm to the corner of Orange Street, where they gathered, spilling over the curb into the street, in front of U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s office and did the same.

There were no groups or individuals in opposition visible, and this reporter heard at least half a dozen honking toots of approval from passing cars.

To Esther Rose-Wilen, a staffer from the City Plan Department, who was participating on her lunch hour, attendance was important because ​“it’s aligned with my sense of spirituality and Judaism to fight for freedom and safety for all people.”

An Egyptian-born ESL teacher from South Windsor (who did not want to be otherwise identified) said she was there out of exasperation and disappointment at how ​“the international community has failed to see what the Israeli government – not the Israeli people – has been doing to Palestinians for 75 years. It is so important to do research and to listen on both sides.”

But, as the rally heated up, that complexity and spirit of let’s‑try-to-see-both sides was often little in evidence either in the many chants (“Palestine will be free from the river to the sea”) or in the many signs and speakers’ characterizing Israeli policies as deliberately apartheid and genocidal.

“It’s our sacred right as Jews to fight for the humanity of all,” called out Mikveh. 

Then she added, ​“We need now a full stop of the war economy across the world. We need to replace people like Rosa DeLauro [who has not called out the occupation of Gaza]. I’ve a child now and I want the child [to grow up] to know a world liberated from Zionism.”

Perhaps the most moving testimonial to the unfolding tragedy came in the remarks of Colleen Keyes. She’s the vice president of the Muslim Coalition of Connecticut. And it wasn’t her formal remarks that riveted her audience when she called for a ceasefire, an open corridor for humanitarian aid in Gaza, opposition to attacks on all civilians, and concluded that ​“Biden and our [American] elected officials are complicit.”

It was when she reprised a phone call she had Wednesday morning with a friend Khamis Abu Hassabullah. He is the president of the mosque in Avon. Within the last two days, she reported he had told her that in two bombings of his family home in Gaza, Hassabullah said 24 members of his family had been killed.

While many of the protesters were young and belonging to the relatively new JVP, and Mending Minyan, there were also participants from the local Middle East Crisis Committee, a group that formed decades ago during the Lebanese Civil War in 1982, said Patrick Kearney. The occasion was the killing of hundreds of people, which involved IDF forces in Beirut in the Sabra neighborhood and the Shatila refugee camp.

That’s why Kearney was at the protest. ​“She [DeLauro] is one of our elected officials. They must speak out, and Rosa’s been silent for many years about the occupation and the siege of Gaza.”

Luann Heller is another member of that group. Holding up a sign saying ​“End the Siege,” she said, ​“I have hoped that this day would never come, but it’s here. They’re [the Israelis] going to annihilate the Palestinians. The Zionist government wants all the Palestinians gone, so they can get all the land. If people don’t see the connection between what we did to the natives in America and what they’re doing there, then they’re incredibly ignorant.”

In a conversation after the rally, Shelly Altman said he was ​“overjoyed” by the turnout, which included many people he and his aides did not know – perhaps those associated with synagogues or other traditional or heritage Jewish organizations. It’s an incredibly painful time for them, he said, and one of the more local aims of the rally, he added, is to begin, he said, to have real conversation with them.

“We’re going to be on the streets again in the next days,” he told the group before they dispersed.

That will likely include attending the next rally in the ongoing local protest of the Israel-Hamas War. It’s being organized by Yale-affiliated groups for Palestine, and is to be convened on the Green this Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

DeLauro: "This War Is Against Hamas, Not The Palestinian People"

In an email comment provided to the Independent after Wednesday’s rally, DeLauro affirmed her support for Israel’s right to defend itself from Hamas while also expressing support for stepped up U.S. aid for humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in Gaza.

“Israel has our unequivocal support as they seek to defeat Hamas,” she said. ​“While they engage in that effort, they should take every precaution to protect innocent lives. As we work to ensure Israel receives the resources it needs to defend itself, I hope that we can also ensure the Palestinian people quickly receive the humanitarian aid they need to survive. Failure to do so expeditiously will have disastrous consequences.

“I am glad the Biden administration has announced that it will immediately provide $100 million in humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank. As the Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee, I have also given strong support to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the primary agency responsible for Palestinian refugees across the region. In last year’s budget, we were able to secure an additional $75 million to address extraordinary food needs in Gaza. Altogether, this funding will help support the innocent and displaced civilians caught in the middle of this conflict and ensure they have access to clean water, food, medical care, and other essential needs.

“The Palestinian people are not Hamas. This war is against Hamas, not the Palestinian people. Palestinians have also lost communities and even loved ones because of Hamas’s atrocities. The people of Gaza deserve a better future. Peace must be our ultimate goal. That means a two-state solution and an end to settlement expansion. We must bring this war to a swift end and strive for a solution that promotes lasting peace.”

Mayor Elicker added in a separate email comment sent to this Independent for this article: ​“War is a terrible thing. We grieve the loss of all innocent life and no one wants to see innocent civilians suffer. At the same time, Israel has the right to defend itself and its citizens against Hamas whose stated mission is to destroy Israel and kill Jewish people. I think President Biden is currently balancing these two realities in supporting Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas, and also committing an initial $100 million in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people and working to ensure that food, water and medicine can enter Gaza.”

Pernick: "Stand Up Forcefully Against Evil"

In a separate email comment provided to the Independent, Joshua Pernick, the rabbi in residence and director of Jewish life and community relations at the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven, responded to Wednesday’s pro-Palestine rally by affirming what he sees as an overwhelming New Haven Jewish support for Israel.

“The overwhelming majority of our Jewish community in the Greater New Haven area, along with our allies in faith communities across our region, have spoken with a clear and united voice against the barbaric rampage of Hamas terrorists on Saturday, October 7th, as well as against the ongoing barrage of rockets fired from Gaza into Israel,” he said. ​“There is one goal and one goal only of these terrorist attacks: to murder as many Jews as possible. Over 1300 innocent civilians, from babies to Holocaust survivors, have been murdered in the most heinous manner. Over 150 are still being held captive in Gaza.”

Pernick thanked the local and state officials who have already spoken out forcefully ​“against the atrocities wrought by Hamas and its ongoing impacts in the region.”

He continued: ​“We have also mourned alongside our Muslim brethren as we have witnessed the terrible loss of civilian life, in Israel and in Gaza, as a result of Hamas’ genocidal pogrom. As Hamas has embedded itself within all areas of societal infrastructure in Gaza, using civilians as human shields to maximize loss of life, we recognize the unfathomable human cost inherent in any attempts to root out Hamas’ infrastructure. We stand with Israel as it fulfills its core responsibility to ensure the safety and security of its citizens while praying that their operations result in minimal civilian casualties.

“As Jews, we are commanded to pursue peace. As Jews, we are also commanded to stand up forcefully against evil. A ceasefire that enables Hamas’ genocidal regime to remain in power will ultimately generate far more violence and death than it will prevent. We pray that the dismantling of the terroristic regime of Hamas ultimately enables Jews and Muslims, Israelis and Palestinians to live side by side in peace and cooperation in Israel and in Gaza.”

Murphy To Israel: Heed 9/11's Lessons

Meanwhile, less than an hour and a half after the midday rally in downtown New Haven, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy took to floor of the Senate to urge Israel to learn from the mistakes made by the U.S. in its counterterrorism campaigns after 9/11.

“I believe that part of the way that we support Israel is providing them with funding and with arms in order to destroy Hamas’s military capabilities. But I also believe that we should be sharing the lessons that we learned from our response to September 11th and the successive two decades of wars waged in the name of counterterrorism,” Murphy said. 

“If we’re going to be honest with our friends in Israel, then we need to admit that we often failed to see beyond our fury, and that we made mistakes by not understanding what came next after the invasion of Afghanistan and the decapitation of our enemy. We had a day one strategy, but we did not have a day two strategy. And we paid a horrible price.”

Also on Wednesday, Murphy led 33 Democratic senators in urging the Biden administration to contribute to the United Nations’ appeal of $294 million in humanitarian aid to Gaza and the West Bank. The senators wrote that, although they supported Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas, ​“More than one million people in Gaza have fled their homes in search of safety, with nearly half of those taking shelter in UN facilities. … The humanitarian needs on the ground have dramatically increased over the past week, and conditions will likely continue to deteriorate in the days and weeks ahead.”

Click on the video above to watch Murphy’s Senate floor remarks in full.