Enjoying perfectly blue, sunny skies and warm temperatures, thousands of spectators cheered on some 75,000 marchers in the Salute to Israel Parade here today. The marchers, organized groups of youths above the age of 10 through college age, representing 90 schools and 20 youth organizations, enthusiastically headed up Fifth Avenue singing Israeli songs, dancing Israeli folk dances, and chanting slogans based on this year’s theme, “One People, One Heart.”
The parade included many floats bearing banners such as “Jerusalem is not a Settlement, it Cannot be Dismantled,” “Jews attached by Heart and Soul to Israel,” and “From Sand to Land. ” One float bore the likeness of an oil rig with several students pumping for fuel. Another group of people represented New York’s Yemenite community, wearing traditional costumes while performing. Yemenite dances, Some of the floats, were even mode by the marchers themselves. Marching bands from as far away as Maryland and Massachusetts joined the others in celebrating Israel’s 32nd Independence Day.
The guest of honor at this 16th parade was Leon Dulzin, chairman of the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency Executives. Dulzin said that the parade signifies the “pride and hope that Israel represents for the entire Jewish people.” He described Israel on the “fulfillment of Jewish destiny and mastery of fate after centuries of persecution.”
ISRAEL “SANCTUARY” FOR JEWS
In a proclamation Mayor Edward Koch officially declared today as “Solute To Israel Parade Day,” heralding each Independence Day anniversary as “a milestone to this brave country, and a declaration of its living reality.” in continuation of that spirit the Mayor appeared today, telling the crowds that Israel is the “single sanctuary for every Jew who is under attack to go to without restriction” and that Israel is the center of “democracy, freedom, and peace.”
There were many other officials present including Stephen Aiello, special advisor to President Jimmy Carter on Ethnic Groups, representing the White House. Aiello reiterated the Carter Administration’s five point commitment to Israel including a commitment to an undivided Jerusalem and a promise “not to negotiate with or recognize the PLO unless it recognizes, without doubt, the right of Israel to exist.”
The parade is sponsored by the American Zionist Youth Foundation. There are also over 100 national and local organizations which lend their support in all areas.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
