Gothamist reports on an action, organized with help from JFREJ, in which 19 rabbis were arrested protesting a ban on refugees & immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries.
Feb 7, 2017
John Del Signore
A progressive rabbinical group led a protest against President Trump's ban on refugees and immigrants from majority-Muslim countries last night, with some demonstrators committing civil disobedience by blocking traffic on Central Park West outside Trump International Hotel and Tower. 20 people were arrested at approximately 10:30 p.m., according to an NYPD spokesperson who said most were charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing traffic.
Approximately 200 protesters participated in the protest march, which started north of the hotel on 88th Street and Broadway. "I’m putting my body on the line tonight because we’re obligated as Jews to stand with people seeking safety and seeking home,” Rabbi Rachel Timoner of Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, said in a statement.
"I’m risking arrest today because America welcomed my own immigrant family to its shores, as it did millions of families before us who fled persecution,” said Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in New York City. “We’re repeating the tragedy of the St. Louis, the ship carrying 908 Jewish refugees that America turned away in 1939, sending them back to Europe where many were murdered."