NEW YORK: Marchers chanted for the release of hostages in Gaza on Sunday at a New York City parade for Israel that drew thousands of people under heightened security.
The parade came almost eight months after the unprecedented Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, the deadliest in Israel’s history. The annual parade in the past was dubbed “Celebrate Israel,” but organizers said the exuberant atmosphere would be toned down this year given the war and hostages still being held in captivity in Gaza, as well as outbursts of antisemitism worldwide.
People chanted “Bring them home now!” and waved Israeli flags as they marched along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan for what this year is being called “Israel Day on Fifth.” Crowds of spectators and hundreds of police officers lined the route, and steel barricades were installed along the sidewalk.
“Especially this year, after Oct. 7, it’s especially important to have this show of unity,” said Rena Orman, a Bronx native who attended as part of Mothers Against College Antisemitism. “Everybody wants hostages back. Everyone wants this to end. No one is cheering for this. Everyone wants peace.”
Mark Treyger, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council, said earlier this week that the event would focus on solidarity, strength and resilience.
“This is not a mood of confetti and music,” Treyger said. “This is more of a mood of unwavering, ironclad solidarity with hostages to bring them home, and also our unwavering love and pride in our Jewish identity.”
The parade, which is in its 59th year, kicked off at about 11:30 a.m. Sunday and was expected to draw more than 40,000 participants, including Israeli dignitaries, New York elected officials, celebrities and some of the hostages’ families.
There was never a thought of canceling the parade this year, Treyger said, despite what he termed an astronomical rise in antisemitism.
“This is a moment that we have to meet,” he said.
But there was significant security.
New York Police Department officials said Friday they plan to implement measures typically used for high-profile events such as New Year’s Eve and July 4. That includes drones, K-9 units, bike patrols, fencing and barriers and designated entry points for spectators all along the parade route.
Backpacks, large bags and coolers will be prohibited. Spectators will have to pass through metal detectors and only be allowed to line the east side of Fifth Avenue, with police blocking off the west side.
City officials stressed Friday there were no specific or credible threats to either the parade or the city and any protesters have the right to demonstrate so long as its done peacefully.
“We’re not going to allow any unlawfulness and any disruption of any celebration of one’s heritage in this city,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said at a security briefing.
The parade represents the first large-scale Jewish event in the city since the war started, although there have been roughly 2,800 protests in the city, with about 1,300 of them related to the conflict, the Democrat said.
Israel faces growing international criticism over its offensive in Gaza, at a huge cost in civilian lives. Israeli bombardments and ground offensives in the besieged territory have killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

MALE, Maldives: The Indian Ocean nation of the Maldives will ban Israelis from the luxury tourist hot spot, the office of the president said Sunday, announcing a national rally in “solidarity with Palestine.”
The Maldives, a tiny Islamic republic of more than 1,000 strategically located coral islets, is known for its secluded sandy white beaches, shallow turquoise lagoons and Robinson Crusoe-style getaways.
President Mohamed Muizzu has “resolved to impose a ban on Israeli passports,” a spokesman for his office said in a statement, without giving details of when the new law would take effect.
Muizzu also announced a national fundraising campaign called “Maldivians in Solidarity with Palestine.”
The Maldives had lifted a previous ban on Israeli tourists in the early 1990s and moved to restore relations in 2010.
However, normalization attempts were scuttled following the toppling of president Mohamed Nasheed in February 2012.
Opposition parties and government allies in the Maldives have been putting pressure on Muizzu to ban Israelis, as a sign of protest against the Gaza war.
Official data showed the number of Israelis visiting the Maldives dropped to 528 in the first four months of this year, down 88 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.
In response to the ban, an Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman urged citizens to avoid travel to the Maldives.
“For Israeli citizens staying in the country, it is recommended to consider leaving, since if they fall into distress for any reason, it will be difficult for us to help,” the spokesman added.
The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,189 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Militants also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the army says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 36,439 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.