As Senator Chuck Schumer of New York prepared for a final vote to pass an aid package that would provide $26 billion to Israel, hundreds of protesters gathered in his Brooklyn neighborhood on the second night of Passover to call for an end to the United States’ military support of Israel.
Rally at Grand Army Plaza
Though Mr. Schumer, the Democratic majority leader, was in Washington, demonstrators rallied on Tuesday in Grand Army Plaza, one block away from his Brooklyn home, a common site of protests since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war. As the sun set, people gathered around a circular banner representing a Seder plate, which included the words “Jews say stop arming Israel” alongside images of foods eaten during the Seder meal.
Message to Senator Schumer
Stefanie Fox, executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace, said that the protest was held during Passover to send a message to Mr. Schumer as the Senate moved toward a final vote on a $95 billion aid package that would include funding for Israel. “Everything in our tradition compels us to bring everything we have to stopping these historic atrocities being done in our names and with our tax dollars,” Ms. Fox said.
One attendee, Calvin Harrison, 29, a community organizer who lives in Manhattan, said he was at Grand Army Plaza “because I’m a Jew and I was raised to believe that Judaism is about justice.” “Passover is a celebration of liberation for the future,” he went on. “We can’t celebrate liberation for ourselves while we’re oppressing Palestinians.”
