It began at noon at CNN, then the crowd walked to 49^th and 6^th. We were there until it broke at 3:30 PM or so, several hours, holding the backdrop, the Mogen David in particular, behind the speakers for most of the time. The day was gorgeous, not hot, brightly sun-fed; there were never more than i would say 60 attendees inside the pen. Helen Freedman, Americans for a Safe Israel's (AFSI ) longtime spokesperson and leader, spoke emotionally. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach also spoke without a note and to approval and laughter as he said several times that we ought all to be watching the Giants game; several of his 10  kids were in attendance, he said so they could hear firsthand what threats we face. My new friend, Lauri Regan of the Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET), NY, spoke well and detailed the endless and increasing velocity of incidents of hate and violence against Jews of the past few years, and the rise of visceral anti-Semitism in Europe and the US.

Mark Langfan of AFSI, with his colorful, 6'-tall standing map of embattled Israel, pointing out Israel's vulnerabilities to rockets and mayhem. He handed out postcards of his tall cardboard map of Israel to the assembled. Ashraf (Coptic Christian), the great Herb London and an Israeli IDF fellow formerly from the Sudan also spoke. Rabbi Avi Schwartz read from a multipage passionate peroration that ought to have been edited to one or two pages. Three musicians were interspersed in there, but only the last of the three sang nationalistic songs and guitar Am Yisroel Chai tributes that roused the crowd to the proper tone. The others were musical interludes but had little to do with the event.

We got invitations for this rally several times and assumed all the rest of the chevrah got them, too. Jeremy Dery was the introducer and emcee. He is also on our steering committee for the Murder [Death] of Klinghoffer 22 Sept event at the Met.

Although inside the pen we were under 60 people, outside the pen many stopped to listen and absorb, and cars and trucks passing seemed to be in tune with us. There were police, but not too many and not in your face.  They were friendly. The pen was capacious enough for several hundred.

Ironically, we were basically catercorner from friendly Fox TV--though our venue was chosen to castigate CNN, MSNBC -- and the BBC.

We are all busy and committed severally, but though the Muslim event not far away in Manhattan amassed only some 150 people - sparse indeed - we ought to have shown more impressive strength than we saw on Sunday. One hopes the 22nd will show a huge turnout; we are working toward that end.