Hundreds of North Texans expected to attend March for Israel in DC: "We need to send a message"
NORTH TEXAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) — Crowd estimates for Tuesday's March for Israel in Washington, D.C. are growing by the hour.
Hundreds of North Texans are expected to be among those attending the rally, including a Plano family who spoke to CBS News Texas shortly before heading to the nation's capitol.
"Every single one of us either know someone who was attacked, someone who was murdered or unfortunately taken hostage," said Suzanne Fine.
It has been an emotionally draining month for Fine and her husband, Eric, as they have a personal connection to some of the 240 hostages, and also know some of those injured during the Oct. 7 attack inside Israel's border.
"The last five weeks have been a nightmare for so many in our community," Suzanne said. "There's no six degrees of separation within the Jewish community."
Eric says they need to send a message
"We are here, we're not going anywhere," he said. "We need to send a message that a great leader of Israel once said, 'We are not Jews with trembling knees.'"
The purpose of the gathering is not only to call for Americans to demand the release of hostages, but to bring attention to a groundswell of antisemitism that they say their son has recently experienced at an out-of-state college.
"It's unfathomable to me that we are living through this, my father was born during the Holocaust," Suzanne said.
She and her husband believe around 400 North Texans will be among the group meeting them in D.C. for the march, which begins at noon.