A pro-Israel rally is set for Sunday at 7 p.m. in front of The Venetian hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.
The “Stand Up Against Terror. Stand With Israel.” rally, organized by the Israeli American Council Las Vegas chapter, comes after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip on Saturday, prompting the Israeli government to formally declare war.
As of Sunday, the toll had passed 900 dead with thousands wounded on both sides. At least 600 have been reportedly killed in Israel and 300 have been killed in Gaza.
The Las Vegas rally is one of several such rallies also happening Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday in Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego and other cities across the country, said Israeli American Council CEO Elan Carr. Other organizations joining the Las Vegas rally will include Jewish Nevada as well as the Anti-Defamation League Nevada.
“The first message we want to convey is that we stand with our brothers and sisters in Israel in total solidarity and unwavering support,” Carr said in an interview. “The second message is that like any sovereign country in the world that has been attacked in this horrific and brutal and inhuman way, Israel has an inalienable right to defend itself as it sees fit.
“And it has every right to defend itself fully, completely and decisively,” Carr said. “No country on Earth can be expected to live in this kind of condition where they are under a threat of mass murder, this was mass murderer equivalent to a medieval pogrom occurring in the Jewish homeland.”
Carr, who served as the U.S. Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism in the Trump administration, thanked President Joe Biden for his statement condemning the attack and asserting at the White House Saturday that “Israel has the right to defend itself and its people, full stop.”
“I first want to express my thanks to the President for saying that,” Carr said. “I think the United States has to continue to say that.”
The Venetian is at 3355 Las Vegas Boulevard South, between Flamingo Road and Spring Mountain Road/Sands Avenue.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com.
