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On Tuesday, tens of thousands (almost 300,000, according to organizers) of American Jews gathered in Washington, D.C. for a March for Israel, the stated aims of which were to show support for Israel, call for a release of the more than 200 people held hostage by Hamas, and to fight antisemitism.

These are not particularly specific calls, and the fact that they were vague—vague enough for lots of people to see themselves in—was intentional. The march was meant to allow lots of different types of American Jews to come together, each with their own interpretations of what it means to support Israel and fight antisemitism. “We must stand together as one, and we can put aside our differences, big differences and small differences, and focus on the commonality of our connectivity to Israel and our connectivity to each other as Jews here and around the world,” William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which co-organized the rally, said ahead of the event. There was a “peace bloc,” composed of liberal pro-Israel groups like Americans for Peace Now and J Street, which are not calling for a cease-fire, but nevertheless held up signs that said, for example, “I stand with Israelis, I stand with Palestinians, I stand with humanity.” So, too, were there people in attendance who cheered Christian Zionist Pastor John Hagee, who likened Hamas to Adolf Hitler.

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The march got media coverage and had bipartisan political attendance. And I know, from media reports and anecdotally from conversations I have had since, that attendees felt good about being there, surrounded by other Jews.

There were some prominent voices, however, who, during and afterward, pointed to the march as proof that this is where most American Jews stand on Israel. But what is “this,” exactly? If the point was to bring lots of Jews together even though they disagree, including on what support for Israel looks like, then the point cannot (or at least should not) be to use the march as proof of policy preference.

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It is true that this was the largest march of American Jews since Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7 and Israel’s war in Gaza. It is probably true that most American Jews do not, at present, want a cease-fire. Setting aside the boos against a call for an end to killing at Tuesday’s march (a call that was apparently cheered in the peace bloc), the Jewish-led protests for cease-fires happening across the country have been smaller than Tuesday’s rally. Leftist Jewish groups like Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow exist at least in part as a counter to the mainstream Jewish position, to offer another Jewish perspective; that they are pushing for something other than the mainstream, majority view has always seemed to me to be part of their point.

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But what is that mainstream, majority view? I would be shocked if anyone attending Tuesday’s march took exception to the idea that Hamas should release the hostages. They almost certainly disagreed, however, on how much the Israeli government bears responsibility for the hostages getting taken in the first place, and with what the government has done in the weeks since to get them back (including reports that Hamas and Israel are nearing a deal to trade dozens of Israeli hostages for roughly the same number of Palestinian women and children in Israeli prisons). I am sure everyone there agreed that antisemitism was bad, but so, too, am I sure that there are some who considered the inclusion of speakers like Hagee—who, as I have explained elsewhere, in the past has said that God sent Hitler to carry out the Holocaust “to help Jews reach the promised land,” that Hitler was a “half-breed Jew,” and that Israel is the only home God ever intended for Jews—an insult to the very idea of fighting antisemitism.

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And it is true that the people in attendance on Tuesday, and indeed most American Jews, support Israel. It is also true that people have a wide range of opinions as to what that means. There were signs recognizing the dignity of Israelis and Palestinians, but there were also signs that essentially said that there was no such thing as a civilian in Gaza. Which of these are we to take as the position of attendees of the march? Which of these represents American Jews?

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One could perhaps fault liberally minded American Jews for showing up in the first place to a rally where their presence would be used as proof of support for a war on terms that they are not dictating. Alternatively (or additionally), one could say that it is incredibly cynical to tell people to put aside their differences to come together only to then use the fact that that many people are together as proof that they agree, or to further any one position as the Jewish position. House Speaker Mike Johnson spoke at the march. Johnson tried to help overturn the 2020 U.S. presidential election results, a move that would have kept former President Donald Trump in office over current President Joe Biden. Johnson also believes that the separation of church and state is misunderstood, and has what has been described as a Christian nationalist flag hanging outside his office. I am sure some were elated to hear from him. But this past June, a poll showed that more than 70 percent of Jewish voters prefer Biden. And few Jews would want to live in the Christian nation of Johnson’s dreams. Are we to take their presence at the march as proof that they now support Johnson? There is no Jewish position—which is precisely why the rally’s organizers had to make the stated aim of the march so vague in the first place. This is to say nothing of the millions of American Jews who were not at the march, or the 41 percent of American Jews who have no emotional attachment to Israel, per the 2020 Pew study on American Jewish attitudes.

Another way of putting it is that the March for Israel has shown us that most American Jews believe Israel should be supported, that antisemitism should be fought, and that Jews do not agree on what either of those things mean. That’s not nothing. But it’s nothing we didn’t know before the march, either.

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The March for Israel Revealed Nothing

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16.11.2023
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On Tuesday, tens of thousands (almost 300,000, according to organizers) of American Jews gathered in Washington, D.C. for a March for Israel, the stated aims of which were to show support for Israel, call for a release of the more than 200 people held hostage by Hamas, and to fight antisemitism.

These are not particularly specific calls, and the fact that they were vague—vague enough for lots of people to see themselves in—was intentional. The march was meant to allow lots of different types of American Jews to come together, each with their own interpretations of what it means to support Israel and fight antisemitism. “We must stand together as one, and we can put aside our differences, big differences and small differences, and focus on the commonality of our connectivity to Israel and our connectivity to each other as Jews here and around the world,” William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which co-organized the rally, said ahead of the event. There was a “peace bloc,” composed of liberal pro-Israel groups like Americans for Peace Now and J Street, which are not calling for a cease-fire, but nevertheless held up signs that said, for example, “I stand with Israelis, I stand with Palestinians, I stand with humanity.” So, too, were there people in attendance who cheered Christian Zionist Pastor John Hagee, who likened Hamas to Adolf Hitler.

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The march got media coverage and had bipartisan political attendance. And I know, from media reports and anecdotally from conversations I have had since, that attendees felt good about being there, surrounded by other Jews.

There were some prominent voices, however, who, during and........

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