NEW YORK (RNS) — On Tuesday (April 23), the second night of the weeklong Passover holiday, thousands of New Yorkers filled Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn for a mass Seder dinner organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, IfNotNow, and Jews for Racial and Economic Justice.
The sit-down protest, called “Seder in the Streets,” came as the U.S. Senate was preparing to pass a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan after the House passed a series of parallel aid bills on Saturday.
Though Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was likely in Washington shepherding the measure, the crowd, gathered within shouting distance of the senator’s home, urged him to drop his support for the bill, which would send $26 billion to Israel for wartime assistance and to Gaza for humanitarian aid.
“Schumer, Schumer, talk is cheap. You’re sending bombs. How can you sleep?” chanted the crowd, and some held aloft signs accusing the Democrat of having received funds from pro-Israel group AIPAC to support the bill.