Watch "Celebrate Israel" Parade, the largest demonstration of Jewish pride outside of Israel

On May 14, 1948 of the Gregorian calendar, Israel declared her sovereignty. Independence Day is celebrated in Israel according to the lunar, Hebrew, on the 5th of Iyar. (This year, it fell on April 27th). The Salute to Israel Parade or as it's now known, Celebration Israel Parade is held annually on the first Sunday in June- this year, on June 3rd.

Organizers claim 500,000 people participated last year, the first year the Parade was broadcast on NYC television. Enjoy this first-hand, on-the street coverage from last year's Celebrate Israel Parade held up New York City's Fifth Avenue. The event honoring Israel's 63rd birthday was held on June 5, 2011. The video segments include comments by Israel Amb. Michael Oren, Rep. Elliot Engel, Rep Charles Rangel, Grand Marshalls Eugene Gluck (a holocaust survivor) and Joseph Sitt of Thor Equities- who is redeveloping Coney Island. Dozens of community groups march and construct floats lauding various Zionistic qualities and characteristics.



This year, the parade is not without controversy, which attracts attention. Jeff Dunetz, who blogs at Yid with Lid, is encouraging Zionist groups to boycott the Jewish Community Relations Council's inclusion of anti-Zionist, leftist group, The New Israel Fund, and their affiliates (B'Tselem, Partners for Progressive Israel/Meretz USA), who lobby against Israel's government and military in international courts, and advocate 'boycott, divestment and sanctions' ("BDS") against Israeli-made goods in the marketplace.

Leftist-elites & mainstream-media endeavor to squelch Glenn Beck's exposing their insidious catering to Arab/Islamic anti-Israelism

Handmade video at Glenn Beck's "Restoring Courage" in Jerusalem by R33Mak

Media Comment: The anti-Beck crusade by YISRAEL MEDAD AND ELI POLLAK JPOST 08/24/2011 23:37 

Why have the local media given such a cool reception to the US television superstar? (Eli Pollak and Yisrael Medad are, respectively, chairman and vice chairman of Israel’s Media Watch www.imw.org.il.)

The following are some excerpts from his speech at the Tuesday night dinner at Jerusalem’s Bible Lands Museum: 

“We have spent 2,000 years at each other’s throats, mainly us at your throat. It is time to stand and say, ‘Enough.’ It is time to return home to His throne and beg His forgiveness and tell him unequivocally we will knock it off, we will stand arm in arm. The times require it; it is not a human rights movement, it is a human responsibility movement. If we do not recognize our responsibilities, we have no rights. This is the beginning, there is no end until we all live in peace and we all respect the Jewish people and their rights to live here in peace.”

Glenn Beck’s Revealing Visit by Caroline Glick in The Jerusalem Post 8/25/11
In general, Israeli media responded to Beck’s visit either as a non-event, or distorted who Beck is and what he is trying to do.

Thursday, Yediot ran a story about Beck’s Restoring Courage Rally beneath the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The headline read, “Glenn Beck’s Messianic Show.” In general, the Israeli media responded to Beck’s visit to Israel either as a non-event, or they distorted who Beck is and what he is trying to do. Thursday’s print edition of Ma’ariv sufficed with a photograph from Beck’s rally in Jerusalem the previous day. By casting Beck’s visit as insignificant, Ma’ariv disserved its readers. Beck is one of the most influential media personalities in the US today. . . .



Unlike the leftist public intellectuals such as New York Times columnist Tom Friedman who are celebrated and obsessively covered by the Israeli media, Beck exerts real influence on public opinion in the US. His calls for action are answered by hundreds of thousands of people. His statements are a guidepost for millions of Americans. Aside from radio host Rush Limbaugh, no media personality in the US has such influence. It is highly significant that thousands of Beck’s supporters followed his call and came with him to Israel for a week to express their support for Israel and the Jewish people. It is similarly significant that millions more of his supporters followed his actions on Internet. Those media that did not seek to downplay the importance of Beck’s visit opted instead to distort who he is and what he is doing. As the Yediot headline indicated, the media portrayed him as an unstable messianic, or they castigated him as an extremist and marginal force in the US. Haaretz and Globes both ran articles attacking Beck as an anti-Semite. These claims are outrageous and represent yet another gross disservice to Israeli news consumers who do not have an independent means of judging Beck, his message and his actions for themselves. . . .

Radio's Dennis Prager denounces leftist Jews enlisting Obama to interfere in Israel's survival & self-defense

Despite a weak track-record on understanding the threat of Jihad against the West and Israel, Sen. Barack Obama carried the Jewish American vote against Sen. John McCain, by a 3 to 1 margin.

Since Iran-funded Hamas has revealed its ruthless, 'creating Palestinian civilian casualties aids our Holy War against the Jews' nature, radio commentator Dennis Prager wonders how the will the incoming, leftist/Palestinian-ally President Barack Obama intervene - for or against the global Islamist movement, opposing Western civilization?

Who voted for him - and what were they hoping for? What influence should the secular, American-Jewish Left have over the defense of the land that God bequeathed to the nation of Israel in the Bible?

Mr. Prager directed these remarks at the annual convention of the Orthodox (Jewish) Union, Western Region in December. He also will lecture tonight, Tuesday, 13 January in Westlake Village, California.