WASHINGTON—Hundreds of thousands of men and women flooded the nation’s capital on Tuesday for the March for Israel and demanded the return of hostages captured by Hamas.
According to estimates from the rally’s organizers, the Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, an estimated 290,000 people attended the march in person and 250,000 more watched online.
Some of those attending the rally traveled from Israel to spread awareness about the deadly Hamas terrorist attack on Israel that took place on Oct. 7. The Daily Signal spoke with Anat Shoshany, a young woman who said that Hamas brutally killed her grandfather and kidnapped her grandmother.
Shoshany, who says she was in Tel Aviv at the time of the terrorist attack, emphasized the importance of storming heaven with prayers for the safe return of her grandmother.
“I don’t get to be sad,” she said. “I don’t get to cry. I need to fight.”
A young man who spoke with The Daily Signal said that he is a survivor of the Nova music festival attack, at which Hamas terrorists used hang gliders to enter the festival and slaughter concertgoers.
“You can’t imagine what actually happened there,” he said.
“Only God helped me there.”
Many young people attended the March for Israel. The Daily Signal observed many groups of students and families. One young man attending with his high school said that there were 500 students from his school alone attending Tuesday’s march.
Though pro-Palestinian protesters appeared to have marked up the portable restrooms with graffiti saying “Gaza” and “free Palestine,” few anti-Israel demonstrators were at the march.
One anti-Israel protester could be heard shouting “Heil Hitler” at apparently Jewish attendees. His gesture caused those around him to gasp in horror and to strongly condemn such language.
Unlike most of the pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel gatherings in Washington, New York, and other cities around the U.S., most of the March for Israel attendees did not cover their faces.
Anti-Israel demonstrators at campus protests have said that they cover their faces fearing detection by federal agencies and authorities. At one candlelight “Vigil for the Martyrs” that The Daily Signal attended at George Washington University, organizers encouraged reporters for The Daily Signal to hide their faces to avoid detection.
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