Celebrate Israel Parade (originally Youth Salute to Israel Parade then Salute to Israel Parade) is an annual parade in support of Israel that takes place along Fifth Avenue in New York. The parade travels north on

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major and prominent thoroughfare in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It stretches north from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village to West 143rd Street in Harlem. It is one of the most expensive shopping stre ...

from 57th Street to 74th Street. According to the organizers of the parade, it is the largest gathering in the world in support of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. It has been held annually in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

since 1964. Contingents of marchers come from the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass, at , and one of the list of most populous metropolitan areas, most populous urban agg ...

as well as from other parts of the country

Jewish day school A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide children of Jewish parents with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full-time basis. The term "day school" is used to differentiate s ...

Synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

Youth Groups The following is a list of youth organizations. A youth organization is a type of organization with a focus upon providing activities and socialization for minors. In this list, most organizations are international unless noted otherwise. 0 ...

, Hillels and other organizations including the Chai Riders Motorcycle Club. Marchers also include prominent local politicians. On the same day as the parade, although not officially associated with it is, festivities including a concert in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

where kosher food is offered by local vendors. The

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...

lights its tower lights in a blue and white.

History

In 1964 Haim Zohar, Charles Bick, Ted Comet,

Alvin Schiff Alvin may refer to: Places Canada *Alvin, British Columbia United States *Alvin, Colorado *Alvin, Georgia *Alvin, Illinois * Alvin, Michigan *Alvin, Texas * Alvin, Wisconsin, a town *Alvin (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community Other ...

, and

Dan Ronen Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoi ...

worked together in order to plan a demonstration of American Jewish solidarity with Israel. They coordinated with the Manhattan Day School to march from their school to a theater on Broadway. This March was known as the ''Youth Salute to Israel Parade.'' In 1965 David Ben Gurion visited New York. Thousands of people stood on 5th Avenue watching Ben Gurion, in an impromptu event. This later created parade route followed in future years. In 2011, the parade was renamed the Celebrate Israel Parade in a launch event at the Edison Ballroom in

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...

. 2020 saw the parade go virtual.

United Kingdom parade

In July 2007 the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

-based Jewish Leadership Council, together with other UK Jewish groups announced that a UK Salute to Israel parade would be held in Central London and Manchester on June 29, 2008 as part of the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the creation of the State of Israel. These events attracted over 45,000 people to simultaneous street parades followed by open air rallies in Trafalgar Square London and Heaton Park Manchester.

Parade history

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Celebrate Israel ParadeUK Salute to Israel Parade 2008The Salute to Israel Parade
– Marissa Gross

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) is an Israeli research institute specializing in public diplomacy and foreign policy founded in 1976. Currently, the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs's research portfolio consists of five primar ...

Recurring events established in 1964 Parades in New York City Fifth Avenue Jews and Judaism in Manhattan Israeli-American culture in New York City Israeli-American history Middle Eastern-American culture in New York City Zionism in the United States Jewish American culture June observances