No Celebration Without Palestinian Liberation, May 11 11am, Hoboken
IAC CELEBRATES WHILE ISRAEL KILLS
Protest against planned Israeli Celebration in Hoboken
May 11, 2025 11:00am – 2pm
Louis M. Taglieri Jr. Stadium, Hoboken, NJ
HOBOKEN, NJ – While Israel brutally attacks Palestine, the Israeli-American Council (IAC) is celebrating on public school grounds and locals plan to strongly protest. The event, billed as “Israel Independence Day Family Festival” is sponsored by the IAC, which states on its website that its “love and support for Israel are unconditional.” In response, the protesters demand: “No celebration without Palestinian liberation!”
Well over 100 local residents sent emails to the Hoboken Board of Education and the Office of the Superintendent urging them to cancel their approval of the IAC’s use of the public school district’s grounds for this event. The Board of Education’s Policy 7510 stipulates that it may use its reasonable judgment to deny facilities use applications, and its guidelines clearly state that a permit “may be revoked at any time upon notice of the Hoboken Board of Education.” The letters were roundly ignored.
Protesters plan to educate the public with informational handouts, detailing Israel’s abuses of the Palestinian people and violations of international law over the past 77 years, most horrifically in the past 18 months of its war on Gaza. The aim is for the IAC, the residents of Hoboken and Hudson County, our elected officials, and candidates for public office to understand that there is loud and clear opposition to unconditional support for the State of Israel, on our public school grounds or anywhere else. The protest is sponsored by NJ Peace Action, Ceasefire Now NJ, and Hudson County Palestinian Solidarity Group.
The IAC is a non-profit and it has a connected lobby called Israeli-American Coalition for Action. The group grew out of a predecessor group Israeli Leadership Council founded in California in 2007. It was rebranded as IAC and has taken on a national character. In 2013 the super wealthy casino moguls – the Israeli-Americans Sheldon and Miriam Adelson took over as the top donors of the organization according to this 2017 Forward article.
The earlier top benefactor was more financially connected to the Democratic Party but Miriam Adelson is best known now as having given Trump’s 2024 election campaign $100M. So in effect, this pro-Israel rally being held on Hoboken school grounds could also ignite Trump extremist activity given the closeness of the Trump administration to Miriam Adelson, the top benefactor of IAC.
Let all the area communities be warned that in these chaotic times of uncertainty – hosting huge right wing rallies on school grounds in our neighborhoods can endanger our communities that are diverse in ethnicity but also in political views including on the issue of Israel and US unlimited military support to a genocide now in a massive starvation phase.
The recent mobbing by dozens of pro-Israel fascist men of one woman after a Ben Gvir event in New York City is an example of the kinds of violence these pro-Israel events can lead to.
FightBackBetter urges the surrounding community to bear close scrutiny on the behavior and activities of the right wing – not only Israeli – but Trumpian element that Hoboken will be hosting and hold accountable the organizers for any harm to the Hoboken community.
