Thousands of people took part in an emergency protest rally this week at the World Lubavitch Center in Brooklyn, New York. The rally lasted until late at night, with protestors railing against the planned division of Judaism’s holiest city, Jerusalem, and other Israeli concessions scheduled for the international summit. The summit is set to be held in Annapolis, Md., in late November.
New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, an Orthodox Jew, said that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is a “danger to the welfare of the Jewish Nation in the Diaspora.”
The rally was organized by the World Task Force to Save the Nation and Land, headed by Chabad Rabbis Wolfe and Rapp. The two spoke forcefully about the dangers of giving away Old Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and Rabbi Rapp said that such a move would be an “act of treason, liable to the death penalty or life in prison according to Israeli law.”
The main address was delivered by Hikind, who spoke of Israel’s difficult situation and of the public’s apathy in the face of such great dangers. “Olmert is a danger not only to Israel,” he said, “but also to the Jews of the Diaspora. His consent to divide Jerusalem and give up so much of Judea and Samaria helps Iran and Al-Qaeda, and Israel will then face an existential threat.”
Speaking by cable hook-up to the rally from Israel were MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union), Noam Arnon of Hevron, and Atty. Elyakim HaEtzni of Kiryat Arba.
The Task Force held the rally as its opening move of a new campaign against the intentions to divide Jerusalem and give away Judea and Samaria. Chabad has waged similar giant-scale campaigns on similar issues, including support for Binyamin Netanyahu in the 1996 election and “The Land of Israel is in Danger” drive.
