Celebrate Israel Parade

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Israeli flags flown at the parade Israel Day Parade 2007 Flags.jpg
Israeli flags flown at the parade

Israel Day on Fifth (formerly the Salute to Israel Parade and then the Celebrate Israel Parade) is an annual parade in support of Israel that takes place along Fifth Avenue in New York. The parade travels north on Fifth Avenue from 57th Street to 74th Street. [1]

Contents

According to the organizers of the parade, it is the largest gathering in the world in support of Israel. It has been held annually in New York City since 1964.

Contingents of marchers come from the New York metropolitan area as well as from other parts of the country Jewish day schools, Synagogues, Youth Groups, Hillels and other organizations including the Chai Riders Motorcycle Club. Marchers also include prominent local politicians.

History

In 1964 Haim Zohar, Charles Bick, Ted Comet, Alvin Schiff, and Dan Ronen worked together in order to plan a demonstration of American Jewish solidarity with Israel. They coordinated with the Manhattan Day School to march from their school to a theater on Broadway. This March was known as the Youth Salute to Israel Parade. [2]

In 1965 David Ben Gurion visited New York. Thousands of people stood on 5th Avenue watching Ben Gurion, in an impromptu event. This later created parade route followed in future years. [3]

In 2011, the parade was renamed the Celebrate Israel Parade in a launch event at the Edison Ballroom in Midtown Manhattan. [1]

2020 saw the parade go virtual.

United Kingdom parade

In July 2007 the United Kingdom-based Jewish Leadership Council, together with other UK Jewish groups announced that a UK Salute to Israel parade would be held in Central London and Manchester on June 29, 2008 as part of the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the creation of the State of Israel. [4] These events attracted over 45,000 people to simultaneous street parades followed by open air rallies in Trafalgar Square London and Heaton Park Manchester.

Parade history

Parade
Number
Israel's
Anniversary
YearDateThemeMarchersNotes
0161964Original Youth Salute to Israel Parade by Manhattan Day School
1171965Impromptu parade on 5th Avenue in honor of David Ben Gurion's visit
2181966
3191967Shortly before the Six-Day War, drew a quarter-million people [5]
4201968
5211969
6221970
7231971
8241972
9251973
10261974
11271975
12281976
13291977
14301978
15311979
16321980
17331981
18341982
19351983
20361984
21371985
22381986
23391987
24401988
25411989
26421990
27431991
28441992
29451993
30461994
31471995May 21 [6]
32481996
33491997
34501998
35511999
36522000
37532001May 20Amid the Second Intifada. [7]
38542002100,000 [8] 750,000 spectators [8]
39552003
40562004
41572005
42582006
43592007
44602008First UK Salute to Israel parade [4]
45612009
46622010
47632011June 5 [9] Celebrate Israel Parade was renamed from Salute to Israel Parade
48642012June 3Israel Branches Out… [10] 35,000 [11] First contingent of LGBT marchers. [12] [11]
49652013June 2Picture Israel; The Art & the Craft [10] 35,000 [13]
50662014June 1 [14] 50 Reasons to Celebrate Israel [10] 35,000 [15]
51672015June 10 [16] Israel Imagines [10] 40,000 [17] Knesset members Avraham Naguise, Yoav Ben-Tzur, Revital Swid, Ksenia Svetlova and Ofir Akunis led the parade with New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. [18]
52682016June 5Sight, Sound & Spirit [10] 30,000 [19] Andrew Cuomo announced the signing of Executive Order 157, barring the BDS Movement [20]
53692017June 4Celebrate Israel Together [21] 40,000 [22] Opera star David Serero performed the U.S and Israel anthems for the opening of the parade. [23] [24] Andrew Cuomo prior to the parade officially declared it Shimon Peres Day. [25]
54702018June 370 and Sababa! (70 & Awesome!) [26] 50,000 [27]
55712019June 2Only in Israel – Rak B’Yisrael [28] 40,000 [29] Theodore Comet, who created the parade, marched in the 2019 parade, marking the 55th anniversary of the parade. Comet was 95 at the time. [30]
56742022May 22Together Again – Kulanu B’Yachad40,000
57752023June 4Israel 7540,000+
58762024June 2One People, One Heart50,000+ Eden Golan was among the high-profile participants.

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References

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  2. "The Salute to Israel Parade". Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
  3. "The Jewish Voice - More Jewish News than the NYP, the NYT, the WSJ & the Daily News Combined". The Jewish Voice.
  4. 1 2 "Salute to Israel UK". Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
  5. Nathan-KazisMay 31, Josh; Images, 2012getty. "Memories From Israel Parade Founder". The Forward.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. American Jewish Year Book, 1996. VNR AG. July 1, 1995. ISBN   9780874951103 via Google Books.
  7. Lipton, Eric (May 21, 2001). "Violence in the Middle East Clouds a Celebration of Israel". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  8. 1 2 "35,000 marchers expected Sunday for New York's annual Israel parade". www.timesofisrael.com.
  9. "Salute to Israel" . Retrieved 8 June 2011.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 HISTORY OF CELEBRATE ISRAEL PARADE
  11. 1 2 "Celebrate Israel Parade Allows Openly LGBT Marchers for First Time". DNAinfo New York. Archived from the original on 2020-10-24. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  12. "PHOTOS: Gay Jews March For First Time In Celebrate Israel Parade". HuffPost. June 5, 2012.
  13. "Huge Crowd, Tight Security For Celebrate Israel Parade". June 2, 2013.
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  19. Forman, Abra (June 6, 2016). "NY Governor: If You Boycott Israel, New York Will Boycott You". Breaking Israel News | Latest News. Biblical Perspective.
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  24. "Rehearsal: David Serero sings the US Anthem to open the Israel Parade 2017". June 4, 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21 via YouTube.
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  26. Leibovitz, Liel (4 June 2018). "As Tens of Thousands Celebrate Israel in New York, Many Wonder: Just What Does 'Sababa' Mean?". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  27. Yellin, Deena. "Annual Celebrate Israel Parade draws large contingent from New Jersey". North Jersey. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
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