Dozens of NY Jews protest outside UN against China’s persecution of Uighurs

NEW YORK — Dozens of Jewish New Yorkers gather outside United Nations Headquarters for a rally in solidarity with the Muslim Uighur community being persecuted in China.

An estimated 1 million Uighurs and members of other Muslim minority groups such as Kazakhs are held in Chinese-run prison-like detention centers — many for indefinite terms — amid reports of harsh treatment and poor living conditions.

Speakers read testimony given by survivors of the Chinese detention camps and lead chants of “never again” that are repeated by the crowd.

“We’re here to say ‘wake up from your sleep,’ Congress [and] pass meaningful legislation…Each of us [must also] wake up from [our sleep], wake up from your sleep [anyone] who loves the oppressed, for we were oppressed in the land of Egypt,” says rabbinical student Hody Nemes over a megaphone.

— Jacob Magid

Jews protest against China’s persecution of the Uighur minority group outside UN headquarters in New York on August 30, 2020. (Shabbos Kestenbaum)