Hundreds of Metro Detroit Jews Miss D.C. Rally Due to Bus Driver Walk-Out

WASHINGTON D.C., Nov. 15, 2023 ~ As nearly 300,000 people showed up to rally in support of Israel and condemning antisemitism Tuesday in Washington D.C., hundreds of Detroit-area Jews and their supporters were stranded at the airport due to what they claim was a deliberate “walk-out.”

Chartered planes carried 900 people from Detroit to D.C. where buses hired by the Jewish Federation of Detroit would transport them to the March For Israel rally, though only a fraction of the buses arrived. However, Federation leaders said they were told that many of the drivers called off sick in a “malicious walk-off” against the group, with only a third of the demonstrators able to be transported.

The rally was a show of support for Israel following the Oct. 7 attack from the Palestinian militant group Hamas that killed 1,200, though the country’s government has received intense scrutiny from many activists and some politicians for its military response on Gaza. As of Wednesday, following Israel’s siege on Gaza’s largest hospital al-Shifa, more than 11,200 people have died in the territory, about half of them children.