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]
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
editIn 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
editIn 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
edit| Parade Number |
Israel's Anniversary |
Year | Date | Theme | Marchers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 16 | 1964 | Original Youth Salute to Israel Parade by Manhattan Day School | |||
| 1 | 17 | 1965 | Impromptu parade on 5th Avenue in honor of David Ben Gurion's visit | |||
| 2 | 18 | 1966 | ||||
| 3 | 19 | 1967 | Shortly before the Six-Day War, drew a quarter-million people[5] | |||
| 4 | 20 | 1968 | ||||
| 5 | 21 | 1969 | ||||
| 6 | 22 | 1970 | ||||
| 7 | 23 | 1971 | ||||
| 8 | 24 | 1972 | ||||
| 9 | 25 | 1973 | ||||
| 10 | 26 | 1974 | ||||
| 11 | 27 | 1975 | ||||
| 12 | 28 | 1976 | ||||
| 13 | 29 | 1977 | ||||
| 14 | 30 | 1978 | ||||
| 15 | 31 | 1979 | ||||
| 16 | 32 | 1980 | ||||
| 17 | 33 | 1981 | ||||
| 18 | 34 | 1982 | ||||
| 19 | 35 | 1983 | ||||
| 20 | 36 | 1984 | ||||
| 21 | 37 | 1985 | ||||
| 22 | 38 | 1986 | ||||
| 23 | 39 | 1987 | ||||
| 24 | 40 | 1988 | ||||
| 25 | 41 | 1989 | ||||
| 26 | 42 | 1990 | ||||
| 27 | 43 | 1991 | ||||
| 28 | 44 | 1992 | ||||
| 29 | 45 | 1993 | ||||
| 30 | 46 | 1994 | ||||
| 31 | 47 | 1995 | May 21[6] | |||
| 32 | 48 | 1996 | ||||
| 33 | 49 | 1997 | ||||
| 34 | 50 | 1998 | ||||
| 35 | 51 | 1999 | ||||
| 36 | 52 | 2000 | ||||
| 37 | 53 | 2001 | May 20 | Amid the Second Intifada.[7] | ||
| 38 | 54 | 2002 | 100,000[8] | 750,000 spectators[8] | ||
| 39 | 55 | 2003 | ||||
| 40 | 56 | 2004 | ||||
| 41 | 57 | 2005 | ||||
| 42 | 58 | 2006 | ||||
| 43 | 59 | 2007 | ||||
| 44 | 60 | 2008 | First UK Salute to Israel parade[4] | |||
| 45 | 61 | 2009 | ||||
| 46 | 62 | 2010 | ||||
| 47 | 63 | 2011 | June 5[9] | Celebrate Israel Parade was renamed from Salute to Israel Parade | ||
| 48 | 64 | 2012 | June 3 | Israel Branches Out…[10] | 35,000[11] | First contingent of LGBT marchers.[12][11] |
| 49 | 65 | 2013 | June 2 | Picture Israel; The Art & the Craft[10] | 35,000[13] | |
| 50 | 66 | 2014 | June 1[14] | 50 Reasons to Celebrate Israel[10] | 35,000[15] | |
| 51 | 67 | 2015 | June 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] |
| 52 | 68 | 2016 | June 5 | Sight, Sound & Spirit[10] | 30,000[19] | Andrew Cuomo announced the signing of Executive Order 157, barring the BDS Movement[20] |
| 53 | 69 | 2017 | June 4 | Celebrate 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] |
| 54 | 70 | 2018 | June 3 | 70 and Sababa! (70 & Awesome!) [26] | 50,000 [27] | |
| 55 | 71 | 2019 | June 2 | Only 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] |
| 56 | 74 | 2022 | May 22 | Together Again – Kulanu B’Yachad | 40,000 | |
| 57 | 75 | 2023 | June 4 | Israel 75 | 40,000+ | |
| 58 | 76 | 2024 | June 2 | One People, One Heart | 50,000+ | Eden Golan was among the high-profile participants. |
References
edit- ^ a b "The Story of the Parade". Salute to Israel. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
- ^ "The Salute to Israel Parade". Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
- ^ "The Jewish Voice - More Jewish News than the NYP, the NYT, the WSJ & the Daily News Combined". The Jewish Voice.
- ^ a b "Salute to Israel UK". Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
- ^ Nathan-KazisMay 31, Josh; Images, 2012getty. "Memories From Israel Parade Founder". The Forward.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ American Jewish Year Book, 1996. VNR AG. July 1, 1995. ISBN 9780874951103 – via Google Books.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b "35,000 marchers expected Sunday for New York's annual Israel parade". www.timesofisrael.com.
- ^ "Salute to Israel". Retrieved 8 June 2011.
- ^ a b c d e HISTORY OF CELEBRATE ISRAEL PARADE
- ^ a b "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.
- ^ "PHOTOS: Gay Jews March For First Time In Celebrate Israel Parade". HuffPost. June 5, 2012.
- ^ "Huge Crowd, Tight Security For Celebrate Israel Parade". June 2, 2013.
- ^ Dobnik, Verena. "sea of white and blue at nycs israelday Archived 2014-06-01 at archive.today". Poststar.com. June 1, 2014. Accessed June 1, 2014.
- ^ "Sea Of White And Blue At Celebrate Israel Parade". June 1, 2014.
- ^ "Hillel at the 2015 Celebrate Israel Parade". Default. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
- ^ Julian, Hana Levi. "Marchers Danced Through Rain at 2015 NY Israel Day Parade".
- ^ "MKs march in New York's Celebrate Israel Parade - Diaspora - Jerusalem Post". www.jpost.com.
- ^ Forman, Abra (June 6, 2016). "NY Governor: If You Boycott Israel, New York Will Boycott You". Breaking Israel News | Latest News. Biblical Perspective.
- ^ "Governor Cuomo Signs First-in-the-Nation Executive Order Directing Divestment of Public Funds Supporting BDS Campaign Against Israel". Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. June 5, 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-01-19.
- ^ "NYC turns blue and white for 53rd annual Celebrate Israel Parade - Diaspora - Jerusalem Post". www.jpost.com.
- ^ "Celebrate Israel parade steps off in Manhattan". Newsday.
- ^ "Rehearsal: David Serero sings the Hatikvah to open the Israel Parade 2017". June 4, 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21 – via YouTube.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Marchers turn out in NYC for annual Celebrate Israel parade". ABC News.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Yellin, Deena. "Annual Celebrate Israel Parade draws large contingent from New Jersey". North Jersey. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
- ^ Wesson, Nora (5 June 2019). "Turning Fifth Avenue Blue". jewishweek.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
- ^ "55th Annual "Celebrate Israel" Parade to Highlight the Rich & Vibrant Culture of the Jewish State". The Jewish Voice. 2 June 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
- ^ Brawarsky, Sandee (28 May 2019). "At 95, Mastermind Behind Israel Parade Says He's Still 'A Work In Progress'". jewishweek.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 6 June 2019.