Despite the sweltering heat in the early afternoon at the U.S. Capitol on Sunday, Jews who attended the “No Fear: A Rally in Solidarity With the Jewish People” enthusiastically received the many speakers on the rally stage.
The attendees, frustrated over growing anti-Semitic acts in the United States, felt it was their duty to show up and be heard in close proximity to the epicenter of American democracy.
“A wise man once told me that any civilization that allows anti-Semitism to persist—that is Jew-hatred—is the canary in the mineshaft. Once that happens, once that is not stopped, the civilization collapses,” said Adam Lovinger, an attorney and professor at Georgetown University from Chevy Chase. “So I believe in America. I believe in Western civilization, believe in Israel and believe that we have to stop anti-Semitism, nip it in the bud.”
Lovinger said he felt that the Jewish community was sharply divided by politics and that the enemies of the Jewish people consider it a victory when Jews are divided because history shows that Jewish people become weaker when that happens.
“So the theme of unity, togetherness, support across political ideologies was one of the greatest attributes of today’s event,” he said.
The crowd of thousands, many wearing blue hats with “#NoFear” written on them or carrying signs—homemade or distributed at the event—seemed to separate into three groups on the grassy field.
The largest and most enthusiastic was in the center, in front of the stage. It was flanked by two other, less dense groups to the north and south, where trees provided ample shade and some even brought picnic blankets and folding chairs.
One such group comprised Olivia and Benjamin Dolgin, and Steve Schobel and his wife, neighbors from Fredericksburg, Va., seated in a semicircle on camping chairs. Among the older attendees present at the rally, they were angry at what they saw happening in the country.
“Anti-Semitism is out of control. It’s become normalized. It’s everywhere,” said Olivia Dolgin. “It’s in Congress, it’s in the universities, it’s in the school systems. The media is posting lies, distortions and insulting everybody. They are inciting hatred, and they have weaponized anti-Semitism. It cannot be explained, other than pure Jew hate.”
Her husband, Benjamin Dolgin, was expelled from his native Soviet Union because of government-sponsored anti-Semitism.
“Unfortunately, I see the same thing happening now, here in the United States,” he said. “It horrifies me beyond anything. I never expected to ever find myself in a situation where telling anybody that you are Jewish is dangerous. I don’t want to see it ever again, and that’s why I’m here.”
Schobel agreed. He said he was most concerned about right-wing anti-Semitism, which has increased over the past five years and was visible in the white-supremacist “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., in August 2017.
“My wife and I went to the University of Virginia, and we were absolutely shocked and blown away to see the level of hatred that was going on and the support that it was getting from our president, from the GOP, people not speaking out against it. And it just was left to fester for that entire period of time, and it’s grown worse, much worse,” said Schobel.
Despite concerns, the only counter-protesters were the ubiquitous Netruei Karta Chassidim holding signs on the other side of the street from the rally. Walking the sidewalk on the side of the rally, was a lone protester wearing a facemask with a double-sided sign that said “Free Palestine” and “End the occupation now.”
Many of the younger set chose to be closer to the stage. Rachel Underweiser, 24, who came from Providence, R.I., with the group Together Beat Hate, said it was incredible for her to see so many people come out to support the rally.
“I was so surprised by the number of people I saw. I was personally nervous that not that many younger people would show up just because I hadn’t been seeing it on my social media, but I feel like the speakers were incredible. There was such a sense of camaraderie,” she said.
That even included the speakers, said Underweiser, who came down from the stage and mingled with the crowd.
