Today was an historic day. For the first time, defenders of Israel and representatives of minorities persecuted by Islamic jihadists from around the world gathered together to stand for life and for freedom. Finally, the truth.
Thousands of people gathered in Union Square for our AFDI rally, and onlookers couldn’t have missed the difference between our rally for life and the pro-Palestinian rallies for death: our rally was a true celebration, with singing and dancing and joy in living — a stark contrast to the genocidal Jew-hatred that at the rallies of supporters of jihad. We stood in Union Square today, all the victims and potential victims of jihad, in the coalition that needs to come together worldwide to defend freedom. We stood for life against death, for truth against lies, and for good against evil.
Our speakers provided harrowing insight into the full breadth and depth of the havoc and destruction that Islamic jihadists have unleashed upon the world. New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind gave a stirring appeal for Israel in its struggle against the jihad, and was seconded by the eloquent Ethiopian Jewish spokesman Mordechai Tasman and an IDF soldier who spoke of his own experiences. Dr. Mordechai Kedar flew from Israel for the rally, and showed how the jihadists are proceeding according to quranic imperatives.
What was unprecedented and groundbreaking about our rally was that these strong defenders of Israel were joined by others: Yazidi spokesman Haider Elias, the toweringly courageous and eloquent Sudanese freedom fighter Simon Deng, Palestinian Christian Mazzen Warra, Pastor Matthew Singh of Christians United for Israel, Indian human rights activist Arish Sahani, and Kurdish spokesman Salar Motidi — all of them recognized that we all face the same foe, and all of them ringingly affirmed the necessity for us to stand together for freedom.
The singing and dancing was striking, exhilarating. This was most truly a celebration of life. Singers Ron Eliran, Ari Lesser, and Beni Elbaz had the crowd on its feet, celebrating the beauty of life, of existence, of freedom. We love life; they love death. This is our power. This is why we will win. Pamela Hall videoed it all — after she kicked it off with a stirring rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. Check back for video — as I will be posting all.
Yet while the singing and the dancing were illustrative of our love for life, above all the speakers brought home the gravity of the situation we face: the grim reality of the global jihad that Obama is determined to abet and our other politicians are determined to ignore.
Predictably, the mainstream media ignored this groundbreaking event. CBS Local interviewed me, but their piece on the rally didn’t use a single word I said, and characterized the rally as solely pro-Israel, without any mention of our stand for persecuted Christians, Yazidis, Hindus, etc. And the main information CBS’s report gave was how many “Palestinians” have been killed in the recent conflict. Typical and egregious. There were speakers from all over the world, representing minorities at the front lines of Islamic State persecution, including the Yazidis and the media carried not a word — this wasn’t newsworthy? 
New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind
Ethiopian Israeli Mordechai Tasman
Yazidi spokesman Haider Elias
Simon Deng
Mordechai Kedar
Ari Lesser
Beni Elbaz
Salar Motidi
Robert Spencer
