Mia Shem, who was released from Hamas captivity earlier this year, shared: “I was kidnapped to Gaza, not because of a dispute over a piece of land or a policy. I was kidnapped to Gaza by bloodthirsty armed terrorists full of malicious intentions to harm innocent citizens. My friends who came to celebrate their youth found themselves in the middle of an inferno and hell.”
She added: “I came here to cry out to the world and to the world’s greatest power to cry out and demand that the next president to be elected in the United States must do everything in his power to free all the hostages, not just some of them but all of them. These are our brothers and sisters who suffer there day after day, hour after hour, and there is no one to answer their cries.”
The conference was initiated by the Tel-Aviv-based human rights organization Shurat HaDin, which is led by attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, and featured conservative commentator Douglas Murray, law professor Alan Dershowitz, radio talk show host Dennis Prager, comedian Michael Rappaport, Israeli Consul in New York Ofir Akunis, Republican consultant Frank Luntz, campus activist Shabbos Kestenbaum, well-known lawyer Ben Brafman, college professor Shai Davidi and many others.
The purpose of the conference was to promote unity, develop strategies, and foster cooperation on the eve of the elections in the US among the different activist organizations in the crucial fight against antisemitism and extremist hate. The lectures, round tables, and panel discussions presented experts who focused on how to eradicate these dangerous threats and phenomena.
The conference was attended by leaders of organizations such as the Jewish National Fund, Stand With Us, Betar, Students Supporting Israel, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Seed the Dream, Brandeis Center, Stop Antisemitism, CAMERA, NGO Monitor, Bnei Brit, ZOA, FIDF, Project Legal Warfare, Hillel, and Shurat HaDin who presented their ideas and plans for escalating their fights against antisemitism.
Israeli Consul in New York, Ofir Akunis, opened the conference and said: “The Middle East has changed forever. Israel will continue to act to protect its citizens in all sectors. From Tehran to Yemen, from Rafah to Beirut, in Samaria and Judea, Israel is winning, and we have no intention of apologizing for it. We are not the ones who started the war and violated ceasefires; we are determined to restore security to our citizens.”
President of Shurat HaDin and the initiator of the Conference, attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, concluded: “The murderous terrorist attack by Hamas a year ago shocked the people of Israel in Israel and Jewish communities abroad. Instead of embracing the innocent victims, the world reacted against Israel with unprecedented hatred, bloodshed, calls for genocide, and violence.
Our enemies celebrated the massacre of the Jews, distorted facts, ignored acts of rape, and openly supported terrorist Hamas. Our goal with this gathering is to better fight back on the information front and go on the offense against the haters to ensure that every Jew will again feel safe everywhere in the world.”