Gov. Josh Shapiro joins more than 1,000 at rally outside Philadelphia in support of Israel

More than 1,000 people, including Gov. Josh Shapiro, gathered at sunset Monday evening outside a Jewish community center in Wynnewood to mourn the victims of the assault on Israel this weekend and call for solidarity ahead of the deadliest attack on Israeli soil in over five decades.

The rally, organized by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia at the Kaiserman Jewish Community Center, marked the largest local showing of support since Hamas launched an unprecedented invasion on Saturday. It came on the heels of a pro-Palestine rally in Philadelphia Sunday that drew over 200 people to Center City in what organizers called a “emergency solidarity rally” to show support and denounce what they called Israeli aggression.

A somber air hovered over the crowd Monday as Jewish Federation CEO Michael Balaban expressed the local Jewish community’s horror watching the conflict unfold from 6,000 miles away — from checking in on Israeli friends and family to monitoring the growing death toll and the ongoing hostage situation.

“Right now we stand united, but we also stand in pain together,” Balaban said, choking up with emotion. “We are heartbroken, we are grieving, and we are angry.”

The rally was also attended by droves of local elected officials — including Shapiro, who reiterated his earlier condemnation of the weekend assault.

“This is not a moment to retreat from who we are, but to be proud of who we are,” Shapiro told the crowd, to applause.

Shapiro, the third Jewish governor in commonwealth history, said the attack required “moral clarity” between both sides of the long-simmering conflict, calling Israel “the only pluralistic functioning democracy in the Middle East.”

“There is no moral equivalency between Hamas and Israel,” he said. “We are witnessing crimes against humanity; … we must call out what is right and what is so obviously wrong.”

The rally came on the third day of what experts say could be yet another protracted conflict that will likely receive sustained public attention from both Jewish and Palestinian groups in the Philadelphia area.

The region is home to an expanding Jewish population throughout the five counties as well as smaller, concentrated pockets of Palestinians in places like North Philadelphia.

» READ MORE: How Philly-area residents and organizations are reacting to the Israeli-Gaza conflict

Across the Delaware River on Monday, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy ordered flags throughout the state to fly at half-staff “in mourning of the lives lost in Israel and in the Mideast region.”

In Wynnewood, rally attendees and speakers touched on the scope of the violence and the innocent civilian lives that have already been lost, as well as the estimated 150 Israeli hostages being held by Hamas as of Monday evening.

Saturday’s surprise attacks marked the deadliest day for Israel in more than 50 years. Experts estimate the long-term death toll of the conflict will likely be disproportionate for Palestinians. (As of Monday night, at least 900 people in Israel have been killed, according to the military, and 687 people in Gaza and the West Bank are dead, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Thousands more have been injured on each side of the conflict, according to the representatives from both states.)

The Gaza Strip, an area roughly the same size as Philadelphia but with a denser population of 2 million, has lived under blockade since 2007. In his remarks, Shapiro did not mention specific grievances from the Palestinian front, but denounced what he called “whataboutism” that some have used to justify Hamas’ actions.

“It demonstrates a willful blindness to the barbarism of the last 72 hours,” he said.

Marcia Bronstein, regional director of the American Jewish Committee in Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey, called the outpouring of support for Israel from the local community “enormous.”