Almost 4,000 people filled two theaters and the City Green in Sandy Springs as members of the metro Atlanta community of all faiths participated in the Atlanta Community Solidarity with Israel Gathering on Tuesday night.
“When families experience trauma, nothing repairs that loss. But being together can help numb the pain. We gathered to do that this evening,” Eric Robbins, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, said as the gathering began.
The vigil was held with 1,500 people inside the Byers Theatre and approximately 450 in the Studio Theatre, filling them to capacity. The City Green had 2,000 people watching and listening to the live stream from inside.
Daniel Dorsch, president of the Atlanta Rabbinical Association, an event co-sponsor, answered the question of why the community gathered in Sandy Springs. He said it served as a reminder that the Jewish people don’t mourn in isolation.
“We say to the Jewish community tonight as allies that you are not alone. And from here 6,000 miles away we see your pain,” he said.
Mayor Rusty Paul said there wasn’t a person in attendance who did not have a personal connection to people living in Israel. He said that just about the same number of people who were inside the Byers Theatre was the number of people who were killed by Hamas on Saturday. And the almost 2,500 people in the Studio Theatre and outside on the City Green were the number of people who were injured or wounded who have so far survived.
“I stand here tonight because I stand with my friends living through horrific times in Israel, but most of all I stand here tonight because I stand with Israel and will do so as long as I draw a breath,” Paul said.
The Rev. Gerald Durley, emeritus of Providence Missionary Baptist Church, past president of the Concerned Black Clergy of Metropolitan Atlanta, and a veteran of the Civil Rights movement, told the audience not to let his 81 years fool them. He was in no way feeling tired.
“We are assembled here and all over the world to unapologetically denounce these barbaric acts of Hamas against the citizens of and the visitors to Israel,” he said.
The vivid accounts of murder, rape, and kidnapping have stunned and shocked the world, Durley said.
“My friends here tonight, know that you are not alone in your sorrow,” he said.
Anat Sultan-Dadon, Consul General of Israel to the Southeastern United States, said that Saturday, Oct. 7 has changed Israel as we know it.
“The brutal terror attack orchestrated by the Hamas terror organization began on Shabbat morning on our Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret,” she said.
A barrage of rockets was fired from Gaza into Israel and was accompanied by the infiltration of hundreds of terrorists into Israel by land, sea, and air, Sultan-Dadon said.
“These horrific acts were celebrated in the streets of Tehran, in the Palestinian territories. These heinous war crimes were celebrated – the snatching of babies from their mothers’ arms, the butchering of entire families, the execution of elderly civilians waiting for the bus,” Sultan-Dadon said.
Israel has begun and is preparing for a prolonged military response to eliminate the threat posed by Hamas and other terrorist organizations, she said.
“We will do everything necessary in order to protect our country and our citizens, as is the right and duty of any sovereign nation,” Sultan-Dadon said.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said the community came together to give support to friends and allies in Israel and to offer prayers to those here in the Atlanta community who have lost loved ones or are worried about them.
“Hamas launched an unprecedented attack against another nation, against Israel. And Israel has the right to defend itself,” he said.
