American Jewish organizations staged a powerful rally in New York City on Monday to protest against Iran's nuclear program and the appearance of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the United Nations' General Assembly opening session. Waving Israeli and American flags, singing songs and chanting verses, thousands of demonstrators rallied outside the UN headquarters in New York. Dalia Itzik, speaker of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, said Iran's nuclear ambitions posed a serious danger to not just her country, but many others. "These weapons will not only threaten Israel, they will also threaten Paris, Rome, London and New York. Iran's leadership is a threat to peace, a threat to the whole world, a threat to its own people," Itzik said.
"The message to him [Ahmadinejad] is: please go home," Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel said at the demonstration. Wiesel called for UN members to declare Ahmadinejad persona non grata and to exit the General Assembly hall in protest when he speaks on Tuesday.
The rally at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza was organized by a coalition of Jewish organizations. It faced political controversy last week when former Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton, who was invited to speak at the event, backed out. Clinton's aides announced her pull out after learning that Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin had also been invited.
Read about the WJC's campaign to Stop the Iranian Threat
