Transcript: Mayor Adams Delivers Remarks at "New York Stands With Israel" Rally

October 10, 2023

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. Thank you. And I am not going to be long. I'm going to give you four words. This morning on my briefing, my [chief] counsel, Lisa Zornberg, said something that I want us all to acknowledge. We've been through some tough times, New Yorkers. We are tough people. We saw the center of our trade collapse. We saw some of the horrific actions that played out on the stage of our city and our country.

But she said something that hits me to my soul. She stated to our team, we are not all right. We are not all right when we see young girls pulled from their home and dragged through the streets. We are not all right when we see grandmothers being pulled away from their homes and children shot in front of their families. We are not all right when right here in the City of New York you have those who celebrate at the same time when the devastation is taking place in our city.

We are not all right when Hamas believes that they are fighting on behalf of something and their destructive, despicable action that carried out. We are not all right when we still have hostages who have not come home to their family. We are not all right, and we're not going to say we have a stiff upper lip and act like everything is fine. Everything is not fine. Israel has a right to defend itself, and that's the right that we know.

Your fight is our fight. Your fight is our fight. And right here in New York we have the largest Jewish population outside of Israel. This is the place that our voices must raise and cascade throughout the entire country. We will not be all right until every person responsible for this act is held accountable. And we don't have to pretend.

And I want to thank my religious leaders throughout this city of all religious groups who reached out to us and clearly stated that they denounce the hatred and the antisemitism that was displayed on one of the holiest days of the year. This was intentional. This was bitter. This was nasty. This was something that shows Hamas must be disbanded and destroyed immediately.

And so I say to you, I'm not here because I'm your mayor. I've been in Israel as a state senator, I protected the community of the city in general but specifically the Jewish community as a police officer. I stood with you as borough president. And now I'm here today to say not only am I the chief executive of this city, but I'm your brother. I'm your brother.

Your fight is my fight. That swastika not only displays the pain of antisemitism, it displays the pain of racism among African Americans. You marched with us with Dr. King. You stood with us with all the fights we have. And I'm saying we're going to stand with you and stand united together. And we don't have to be all right. We should be angry at what we saw. Thank you, Israel.

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