New York needs a Jewish parade, not an Israel parade

[Eko]

This year, many Jews are furious that Mayor Mamdani will likely skip the event, despite having marched in other groups’ parades. Others are waiting, anxious, to see which extremist Israeli ministers will show up to mug for the cameras. Protesters are presumably planning disruptions, and the police are preparing to prevent any such disruptions.

But these concerns miss the real problem with the Israel Day Parade: It has become a litmus test, pressuring Jews essentially to sign on to the Israeli government’s agenda in order to participate in mainstream communal Jewish life, while also reducing New York Jews to a single aspect of Jewish identity, namely, a connection to another country. Rather than unite New York Jews, it doubles down on the most politicized and contentious issue dividing Jewish communities.

What if, instead, we organized a Jewish heritage parade that showed off the full vibrancy and diversity of New York Jewish communities? There would be bands performing in Hebrew, Yiddish, Bukharian, Judeo-Arabic, Ladino, Juhuri and English, and playing the tsimbl, oud, tambourine and krar. Persian singers would ululate while cantors on guitar lead camp songs. Marchers could wear traditional Jewish dress from Georgia, Greece, India and Syria.

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/new-york-needs-a-jewish-parade-not-an-israel-parade/