(Left to right) Miriam Young, Nicollette Lavi, Lauren Rosenthal, StandWithUs Research Assistant, and Charlotte Korchak, StandWithUs West Coast Campus Coordinator. Photo: StandWithUs.

While Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the United Nations Sept. 27, a coalition including Israel advocacy group StandWithUs, the Coptic State of Egypt, Mothers Against Terrorism, Americans for a Safe Israel, the AMCHA initiative and the Human Rights Coalition Against Radical Islam held a pro-Israel rally on Second Avenue directly opposite the office of the Consulate of Israel in New York. Music kept the mood upbeat, sending the notes of “Am Yisrael Chai” wafted into the streets of the city.

Speakers called for America’s solidarity and support of Israel’s right to defend itself in the face of enemies seeking the destruction and elimination of the Jewish state. Sarri Singer—who in 2003 survived the Palestinian bombing of Jerusalem Bus 14—told the story of the attack that claimed the lives of 16 and injured more than 100.

“It can happen anywhere, at any time… An attack on any of us is an attack on all of us… We cannot be silent when 6 million Jews live in the constant shadow of an instantaneous Holocaust,” she said. “We need to stand strong.”

Rally participant Mark Langfan challenged decision-makers to consider the consequences of a Middle East without the stabilizing effect of the region’s sole democracy. “Any threat to Israel,” Langfan told JNS.org, “is a threat to America and western democracy.”