Photo: Alamy
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., addressed hundreds of thousands of Americans who attended the pro-Israel march in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.
Johnson said at the march, “Let me be clear: the United States stands unequivocally with our neighbor, our friend, our ally, Israel.”
He described the despair of the families of hostages that have been held captive since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
“Hamas terrorists waged the bloodiest assault on Jewish lives since the Holocaust, and there are hundreds of hostages, many of them Americans, still stuck inside Gaza,” he went on.
Then, he declared that there would not be a ceasefire, leading the crowd to erupt with support. He clarified, “Israel will cease their counter-offensive when Hamas ceases to be a threat to the Jewish state.”
Johnson decried the “genocidal and antisemitic rhetoric” of Hamas and the terrorist group’s supporters.
“The war in Israel has awakened an alarming amount of antisemitism towards Jewish people here in the United States and across the globe,” he added.
He noted, “It is unacceptable for Jewish Americans to feel unsafe at home. It is unacceptable for Jewish businesses to face violence, vandalism, and threats.”
It is unacceptable for Universities to allow Hamas apologists to assault and accost Jewish students on campus,” he continued.
Johnson concluded, “It is unacceptable for any political leader in this nation to give credence to this dangerous rhetoric.”
This comes shortly after a brawl erupted outside the L.A. screening of “Bearing Witness” held by the Museum of Tolerance.
The documentary’s debut was protested for displaying raw footage of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, per the IJR.
Reuters reported that Jewish students are suing New York University for allegedly refusing to enforce anti-discrimination policies and allowing antisemitic displays of harassment on campus.
Late last month, a Jewish Ice Cream shop in San Francisco was vandalized and marked with pro-Palestinian graffiti, according to The Jewish News of Northern California.
Even the White House has recognized the need to address rising antisemitism in the U.S. The Biden administration released a Fact Sheet in the wake of the march, suggesting how to address antisemitism in schools.
The pro-Israel march reportedly drew a crowd of almost 300,000 Americans. The New York Post reported that the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations CEO William Daroff celebrated this fact.
He stated, “This is the largest pro-Israel gathering in history.”