Thousands march, rally in Philadelphia to support Israel as war with Hamas enters second week
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Supporters of Israel marched and rallied in Philadelphia on Monday. They are urging people to donate to emergency relief efforts. And that's just one of the many requests for help.
United in the courtyard of City Hall, thousands of Jews with Israel's flag in hand or draped over their shoulders, sang in Hebrew the song "Oseh Shalom."
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"It's a song of peace, it's from a prayer of peace," Jeffrey Lasday, of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, said.
It was a song that carried on as the crowd marched to Independence Park, where the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia held a rally Monday evening.
Among the local rabbis and dignitaries delivering messages of hope and peace was Jacob Weiner, an 11th-grade student who attends a Jewish day in Philadelphia. He was studying abroad in Israel when the attack happened just nine days ago.
"The small group of students and our guide had to run and take shelter in doorways of the iron dome intercepted rockets overhead," Weiner said.
Weiner shared a video of his classmates and teachers inside a bomb shelter in Jeruselum, where they sang, danced and prayed through their fear.
"That moment was the beginning of a whirlwind four days of what was supposed to be a life-changing three-month study abroad program," Weiner said.
In Israel, the death toll has reached at least 1,400 and more than 2,800 people have been killed in Gaza.
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"Arabs, Muslims, Palestinians, all of us are created in the image of God and I refuse to permit Hamas to lead me to racism, hate, to turn me into one who dehumanizes the other," a woman said.
This Thursday, city council will vote on a resolution condemning Hamas, calling for negotiations of a peace settlement between both sides.