WASHINGTON (WSVN) –Demonstrators are preparing to hold a march for Israel in Washington D.C. on Tuesday. At the National Mall, a stage has been set up as final preparations are underway.

The Jewish community, both in the U.S and in Israel, have different beliefs in regards to how the war should be conducted.

The purpose of Tuesday’s rally is to bring those different communities together.

“Absolutely, to Jews around the world,” said Robert Berrin, former board chair of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation.

Berrin, however, is an optimist.

After years in leadership with the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, he said that the attacks of Oct. 7 have rocked every part, every faction of the Jewish community and has compelled a need to unite.

“It was hard to believe, it was hard to fathom, and then, as you heard the details, it was horrendous,” he said.

Berrin and tens of thousands of others are expected to gather at the National Mall in Washington on Tuesday at at rally with the goals of demanding the release of the approximately 240 hostages thought to still be held by Hamas. They rally will also serve as a call for a renewed battle against antisemitism.

“We are seeing it here, we’re seeing it around the world, it’s, it’s just really gotten so out of control,” Berrin said.

Just seven months ago, members of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation traveled to Israel to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the state.

They could not have predicted then the attack on a music festival and on the Kibbutzim throughout southern Israel. Also hostages, from babies to the elderly, being taken captive, as well as the furious bombing campaign that has left thousands in Gaza dead an injured and has forced even more to flee from their homes.

Closer to home, antisemitic graffiti has been surfacing in communities across South Florida and the nation.

Impassioned and heated rallies have also been organized by both sides.

“Hamas has been the oppressor and the Gazans, the people of Gaza, have been the oppressed, and, if maybe rooting out Hamas, maybe it opens up the door for something different, something new, something different that might really work,” Berrin said. “We got to always have hope.”

Police at the scene in Washington said they are planning for counter protests, although it is unclear whether there will be any. One progressive Jewish group is expected to host another rally a few blocks away.

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