Hundreds of people were left stranded on the tarmac in Washington, D.C., after bus drivers refused to take them to the March for Israel on Tuesday, according to a rabbi.
The March for Israel brought over 100,000 people to the nation's capital in a show of solidarity for Israel and to call attention to the hostages that are still being held by Hamas. While the event was peaceful and garnered support from legislators of both major political parties, several rabbis said getting to the rally was a harrowing journey after their buses never showed up.
David Kurzman, senior director of community affairs at the Jewish Federation of Detroit, told reporters on a call that it was a "historic day" for the Jewish community that was marred by the experience with the bus drivers.
Kurzman wouldn't say which bus company was involved or who was responsible for coordinating the transportation. But he said he was informed people called in sick when they became aware of the assignment.
"In the way that this action prevented community members, proud Jewish Americans, from exercising their freedom to speak, protest, assemble, gather today at the nation's capital, that to me was a malicious act," Kurzman said.
Kurzman stopped short of calling it an "act of antisemitism," but said it was an act targeting the Jewish community.
Kurzman said it was flagged on Monday night that they were having trouble getting in touch with the drivers, but that the company committed to fulfilling the transportation request. About one-third of the people in the group were left stranded.
After flying on chartered planes from Detroit to Washington, D.C., the group was forced to sit on the plane for hours after drivers refused to take them to the rally.
"Many people never made it off the plane at all because the bus drivers didn't want to drive Jews to the pro-Israel event and staged a 'sick out,'" Rabbi Mark Miller wrote in a Facebook post. "To be clear we came to D.C. in order to lift our voices against anti-Semitism and ended up the targets of anti-Semitism."
Newsweek reached out to Miller for comment via Facebook but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Sharon Kates, moderator of the Facebook group Don't Forget Jewish Lives Matter, told Newsweek that she heard reports throughout the day that buses weren't showing up for people trying to attend the rally. She believes it's an "intentional boycott."
"Despite the situation, thousands and thousands of people attended this epic event," she said. "They can try to keep us down but they won't win."
The attacks on October 7 in Israel sparked widespread condemnation, but also served as the catalyst to a new wave of clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel people in the United States. Clashes between the two groups have turned violent, doctors have lost their jobs after posting pro-Hamas messages and tensions have erupted in Congress.
Antisemitic incidents in the United States have risen by about 400 percent in the weeks immediately after the October 7 attacks, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). They includes acts of vandalism, assault and harassment.
Speakers at Tuesday's rally condemned the rise in antisemitism in the United States, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries labeling it a "cancer." Deborah Lipstadt, special envoy for combating antisemitism, called it a "danger to our democracy" and vowed to fight it.
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