By Ron Kampeas
Chapters of the Israeli-American Council, an advocacy and community outreach organization, worked with local authorities to light up town halls and landmarks in areas with large Israeli-American concentrations. Other blue-and-white light exhibits were seen in Cleveland, Houston, Orlando, Atlanta, Denver and Hollywood, Florida, as well as a number of municipalities in New Jersey, and Rockville, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C.
The coordinated event was a first for the Israeli-American Council and was a means of celebrating Independence Day, or Yom Haatzmaut, under pandemic conditions.
There will be follow-up events throughout the weekend, including drive-through celebrations in a number of cities, culminating in the broadcast of a concert from Jerusalem on Sunday evening.
One of the events will be a street fair Sunday in New York City’s Times Square with blue and white featured throughout the famed area, including a car parade with the vehicles decorated in those colors, confetti and 73 balloons for Israel’s birthday. On the council’s website, the Hebrew teaser for the midday event promises a “wild and crazy” time.
Here are images from some of the participating cities:
