May 6, 2002 - The New York Times

In Manhattan a Raucous, But Peaceful Salute to the Founding of Israel

By SARAH KERSHAW

Photographs by Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times

A pro-Israel marcher, left, was among thousands in the annual Salute to Israel Parade on Sunday, which attracted several hundred protesters, right. Organizers said the event also drew 700,000 to 800,000 spectators who lined the route along Fifth Avenue between 56th and 79th Streets.

Under tight security and a blazing sun, hundreds of thousands of people lined Fifth Avenue yesterday to celebrate Israel's 54th anniversary during an emotional, but peaceful parade infused with protest and energized by the explosive turmoil in the Middle East.

Police helicopters hovered above the parade route, between 56th and 79th Streets, and police dogs sniffed their way through the crowds, but the police reported no violent incidents or arrests during the four-hour Salute to Israel Parade.

This year's parade drew significantly more marchers, more spectators and more demonstrators, than last year's, organizers said.

But more, than anything, the city's 38th annual celebration of the establishment of Israel was a boisterous New York City-style festival of free speech, with just about every opinion conceivable on the Arab-Israeli conflict displayed in a dizzying streetscape of signs, floats, flags and T-shirts.

Between 58th and 60th Streets, where several hundred protesters had staked out their turf early in the day, were a group of anti-Israel Orthodox rabbis wrapped in Palestinian flags, Jewish demonstrators holding handmade signs that read, "Jews Against the Israeli Occupation and the Palestinian Bombing," Jewish observers waving mass-produced placards that read, "Solidarity with Israel," a woman with an "I love Arafat" sign and another, whose read, "Sharon is a Hitler."

Among the pro-Israeli marchers who drowned out such chants, however, were young yeshiva students and Jewish summer campers singing Hebrew songs, Apache Indians and American college students, including one wearing a T-shirt that said "Hoosiers for Israel."

"We had a lot of friends this year," said Judy Kaufthal, president of the Israel Tribute Committee, which organized the parade and added "Israel Solidarity Day" to the traditional name of the event, Salute to Israel Parade.

Ms. Kaufthal said 100,000 marchers registered to participate in the parade this year, compared with 60,000 last year. And the event drew 700,000 to 800,000 spectators and about 600 protesters, compared with 400,000 to 500,000 spectators and 200 protesters last year, she said. The police did not give any crowd estimates.

While there was no violence, there were plenty of arguments and name-calling. Marchers passing the rabbis wearing the Palestinian flags shouted "Shame!" and "That's disgusting!" And pro-Arab demonstrators shouted "Shame!" to the pro-Israel marchers, who shouted back, "Traitors!"

No matter what their position on the Mideast conflict and their role at the parade, most agreed the occasion was particularly poignant.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who marched with Gov. George E. Pataki and two of the mayor's predecessors, Rudolph W. Giuliani, whose presence drew more cheers, than the others and Edward I. Koch, said: "It's a fun parade. But I think more important, this time, given what's gone on in the Middle East, it is terribly important that New Yorkers send a message to the world: we are behind Israel and we are against terrorism, period."

Alana Gross, 11, a student at the Manhattan Day School, a yeshiva, marched with her classmates for the third year in a row, but said this time felt different from the others. "Now Israel is in trouble," she said. "Maybe we can help."

"I'm praying for peace," said Mike Khorrami, 42, who lives in Westbury, N.Y. and was standing on the sidelines holding a sign that said "Solidarity with Israel." "I want for this all to end," he said. "For Palestinians to have their state and Israel to have its state."

Harry Pomeranz, an Israeli from Haifa who lives in New York, said he used to march in the Israel Day Parade. Yesterday, though, he stood on the sidelines with a group of Jewish demonstrators, who periodically chanted: "The occupation has to go! We are Jews and we say no!" Mr. Pomeranz said that despite the festive atmosphere, yesterday was, at its core, a somber day for him. "What's going on now," he said, "is very heartbreaking."