International

State Of The City Meets State Of The World

by | Feb 5, 2024 10:28 pm | Comments (88)

Laura Glesby Photo

Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers to protesters... for 30 minutes: "I will meet with you afterwards."

Nora Grace-Flood Photo

Inside the board chambers.

Video by Nora Grace-Flood

A mayor’s vision of a booming city clashed with protesters’ vision of a world on fire — as pro-Palestinian activists held up the annual State of the City” address in City Hall for half an hour on Monday night.

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Elicker: Ceasefire Resolution
"Simplifies A Complex Issue"

by | Feb 5, 2024 9:07 pm | Comments (12)

It didn’t concern” Mayor Justin Elicker that protesters shouted down his annual State of the City” address Monday night, he said.

I am a little bit concerned about the dialogue,” he said. I don’t think it was the most productive way to have a conversation. I also understand the frustration.”

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"Simplifies A Complex Issue"’

DeLauro Doubles Down On Ukraine Support After Zelenskyy Meeting

by | Dec 12, 2023 3:32 pm | Comments (7)

Contributed Photo

New Haven U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, issued a pitch to un-stall renewed U.S. military aid to Ukraine after participating in a Capitol Hill meeting Tuesday with visiting Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy. She released the following statement:

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Jewish Leaders, Pols Denounce Menorah "Desecration"

by and | Dec 11, 2023 1:09 pm | Comments (20)

Thomas Breen / Jake Dressler photos

Rabbi Gershon Borenstein on Monday: "One act of positivity will far outpace ... what one negative act can do"; a protester on Saturday, climbing the menorah with a Palestinian flag.

Elected officials and faith leaders gathered at the spot where a protester climbed a public menorah and planted a Palestinian flag — and warned that such acts, if not called out, can escalate into violent antisemitic action.

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Hundreds Rally Downtown For Palestine; Menorah Climbing Denounced As Antisemitic

by | Dec 10, 2023 9:45 pm | Comments (21)

Jake Dressler photo

At Saturday's protest on Elm Street.

A protester climbing the menorah on the Green on Saturday.

About 300 people marched in the streets and rallied on the Green on Saturday in the latest local effort to get elected officials to support Palestinians and a ceasefire amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

During the event, one protester climbed the menorah on the Green and lodged a Palestinian flag between the candle holders — prompting criticism from fellow protesters, and a planned press conference by elected leaders and the Jewish Federation on Monday morning to denounce the act as antisemitic.

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Tree Lighting Brings Out Ceasefire Protesters, Holiday Revelers

by | Dec 1, 2023 2:29 pm | Comments (14)

Yash Roy Photo

Pro-Palestine protesters gather at Thursday's tree-lighting.

As close to a thousand people gathered for New Haven’s annual tree-lighting celebration on the Green, hundreds protested mere feet away in support of Gaza and Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem, where there will be no Christmas celebrations due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. 

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Hostage Crisis Touches New Haven At Broadway Memorial

by | Nov 1, 2023 3:31 pm | Comments (3)

Ben Silvert and Andrea Weinstein with a photo of Andrea's sister and brother-in-law, Judih and Gad.

Andrea Weinstein’s sister Judih is a person of peace. She’s vegan and loves teaching English and making puppets for the children on the southern Israel kibbutz where she has lived with her husband Gad Haggai, a musician and chef. She cherishes the collectivist living the kibbutz afforded her family, writes haikus to calm herself and others, and is critical of the right-wing Netanyahu government.

That life collapsed on Oct. 7, when Judih and Gad were two of hundreds of Israelis either kidnapped or gone missing in a cross-border terrorist attack waged by Hamas.

Andrea showed up in downtown New Haven Wednesday calling attention to her sister’s and brother-in-law’s plight as she desperately seeks information.

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100 Gather For Vigil For Palestine

by | Oct 31, 2023 8:13 am | Comments (24)

Thomas Breen photo

Nour Ebid at Monday's vigil: "This is a global catastrophe."

With microphone in hand, Nour Ebid transported a crowd of 100 mourning Yalies to a hospital floor in Gaza where a 9‑year-old Palestianian boy saw his injured leg amputated in a nonsterile field, without anesthesia, without appropriate sedation.”

The Yale New Haven Hospital physician associate then moved the crowd to a medical setting much closer to home, where every single surgical procedure requires utmost care and absolute sterility.”

We swear a sacred oath to do no harm,” Ebid said about her work as a local healthcare professional. And it is our duty to call on this university and demand a ceasefire now.”

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"Bank of Targets" Screening Uncovers Palestinian Suffering Amid Israeli Airstrikes

by | Oct 30, 2023 9:38 am | Comments (1)

Filmmaker Rushdi Sarraj.

Roughly 130 people from around the world tuned in to a virtual movie screening to get an on-the-ground view of the human suffering caused by bombs dropped on Gaza, past and present — and to vent their frustrations and fears of still more bloodshed to come amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

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250 Rally For Palestine, Ceasefire

by and | Oct 18, 2023 4:53 pm | Comments (65)

Thomas Breen photos

At Wednesday's rally on Elm Street ...

... outside of U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro's office.

Roughly 250 Jewish New Haveners and their allies rallied on the steps of City Hall and then outside of U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s office downtown calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. 

They also demanded that their elected officials speak out to end America’s military support of what speaker after speaker termed a genocidal” war against Palestinians in Gaza — in the latest example of how New Haveners are trying to interpret and reckon with the ongoing bloodshed in the Middle East.

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Israel-Gaza War's Grief Spills Onto Church St.

by | Oct 9, 2023 6:48 pm | Comments (157)

Thomas Breen photos

Pro-Israel protester Shmully Hecht praying in the face of pro-Palestine protesters Chris Garaffa and Kevin Menescardi.

Police bring out the barricades to separate the two sides.

Lynn Rabinovici Park and Karen Rabinovici: "All we want to do is live, and live in peace;" Faisal Saleh: "I've seen a lot of bodies" in images and videos coming out of Gaza.

Half an hour into a tense and loud and flag-filled standoff between pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protesters on the front steps of City Hall, city police brought in barricades to physically separate the two sides.

Those barriers successfully kept the peace — even as they kept apart Lynn Rabinovici Park and Karen Rabinovici, two sisters worried sick about the safety of their father’s relatives in Jerusalem, and Faisal Saleh, a Palestinian museum director worried sick about the safety of artists he works with across Gaza.

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Freetown Mayor Calls 2-Year Terms "Crazy"

by | Sep 14, 2023 1:56 pm | Comments (16)

Thomas Breen photo

Freetown Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, with New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker: Two-year terms for mayor are "crazy!"

The mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone, traveled across an ocean to her home’s sister city” in New Haven to promote cross-continent comity, a shared history of liberation, green energy consciousness, and — unexpectedly — longer mayoral terms.

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