Mondaire Jones Gives

Remarks at the Vigil for Israel

On October 12, 2023, Scarsdale10583.com published an article by Joanne Wallenstein recounting the “moving ceremony in support of Israel” that took place at the Westchester Reform

MONDAIRE JONES, Cont’d. on page 11

CALENDAR, Cont’d. from page 15

the Peekskill NAACP Branch.

Friday, November 10

Come out with your appetite on!. The White Plains/Greenburgh NAACP Branch will be sponsoring a “Fish Fry” on Friday, November 10, 2023, at Christ Temple, Oak Street, in Greenburgh, NY. Sandwiches and dinners will be sold for your eating pleasure. Janice Griffin is President of the White Plains/Greenburgh NAACP Branch.

Saturday, November 11

10th Pastoral Anniversary Celebration honoring Rev. Gary L. Colter, Senior Pastor of Mount Lebanon Baptist Church in Peekskill, and First Lady Diane Colter. The Black Tie affair will be held at the Royal Regency Hotel, 165 Tuckahoe Road, Yonkers, NY, 3:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. Tickets for adults $125.00; Children ages 6-12 $40.00. Reserve your spot today for this joyous occasion.

Wednesday, Dec. 6

Mark your calendars and save the date for the Westchester Community Health Center’s (formerly Mount Vernon Neighborhood Health Center) 50th Anniversary Gala on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, from 6:30 pm - 11:30 pm at the Glen Island Harbour Club in New Rochelle, NY. Join us for a memorable and inspirational evening that will include an awards presentation, fabulous food, and a silent auction as we commemorate our 50th year of offering high-quality, comprehensive, and affordable primary and preventative health care to Westchester’s most vulnerable residents. To purchase your tickets, log onto https://e.givesmart.com/events/yfz/ We hope to see you

Temple this week. A short excerpt from the piece is below:

On Wednesday night October 11, ten local synagogues, representatives from Jewish organizations, Christian clergymen and political leaders joined together for a Vigil for Israel at Westchester Reform Temple. The event drew an overflow crowd to the synagogue. Traffic was backed up for miles on Mamaroneck Road and every seat inside the temple was filled. The audience included Scarsdale’s school superintendents and representatives of the Board of Education along with Scarsdale’s Mayor and several trustees…

…Former Congressman Mondaire Jones said he was “devastated by the heinous attacks,” and said “As a Black American I stand in solidarity with the Jewish people here and in Israel.” He remembered a 2021 trip to Israel calling it the most “educational trip of his life.” He said, “America has a role to play in supporting Israel and called for the “end of chaos in Congress.”

Good evening, everyone, and thank you for allowing me to share a few words of solidarity with you tonight.

Like all of you, I am devastated by the heinous attacks on the Israeli people over the past several days—attacks that continue to occur, and that would be unimaginable were we not privy to the video footage, the photographs, the witness interviews, the stories of our loved ones directly impacted. The actions by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah are a category of evil I had read about, growing up, but had hoped never to witness in my own lifetime.

My heart goes out to every single person here and in Israel who has experienced loss during this ongoing tragedy. I stand in solidarity with the Israeli people and our Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel, here in America, and the world over. It is beautiful and encouraging to see so many in our community come together in solidarity tonight. I am with you.

I am not Israeli or Jewish. I would not pretend to know precisely how you are feeling tonight—the depths of your sorrow and your anger. I will tell you that I became a better legislator when I visited Israel in November 2021. It was the most educational trip of my life. For several days, I glimpsed and got to experience the palpable anxiety that people feel on a daily basis throughout Israel. I have been to the Iron Dome facility in Sderot, just miles away from the Gaza border. I spent time at Zikim, a kibbutz that also sits along the Gaza border, and that exemplifies the principles of equality and communalism that the Jewish state of Israel was founded on. And of course I had the chance to visit, reflect, and pray at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.

America has a profoundly important role to play in supporting Israel. I was happy to see President Biden last night reaffirm our government’s support of our greatest ally. In Congress, I was proud to vote to fund Iron Dome and to support the normalization of relations with Israel’s neighboring Arab countries. My strong desire is for Congress to overcome the dysfunction we are seeing in the House and, in a bipartisan way, provide Israel the aid she needs to defend herself and her people now and into the future.

The story of the Jewish people over millennia is the story of triumph over adversity. In the face of unspeakable horror, the Jewish people have responded with resilience, hope, and strength. As a Black American, I feel a close kinship with all of you, my Jewish brothers and sisters, and I want to extend my hand tonight in solidarity. I am reminded of Martin Luther King’s expression of solidarity to the American Jewish Congress in 1958:

“My people were brought to America in chains. Your people were driven here to escape the chains fashioned for them in Europe. Our unity is born of our common struggle for centuries, not only to rid ourselves of bondage, but to make oppression of any people by others an impossibility.”

I know that I speak for all of our non-Jewish neighbors here tonight when I say that we stand with you, and we stand with the Israeli people. We must reject terrorism. We must reject hate. And we must never lose sight of peace, the goal that has guided us since the founding of Israel. Thank you.