South Florida business leaders have raised their voices in outrage in response to Hamas’s attack on Israel. An iconic Miami tower is now adding its message—in lights. Until Sunday, Oct. 15, the crown of Paramount, an iconic building in Miami, will display a digital Israeli flag, which is the world’s tallest, along with the words “solidarity” in both English and Hebrew (סוֹלִידָרִיוּת).
“The Paramount Miami Tower is sending a signal of solidarity from South Florida to the people of Israel,” says Daniel Kodsi, CEO of the Royal Palm Companies – builder of the Paramount Tower. “There is sorrow and outrage in our community, which is the third most Jewish-populated metropolitan area in America,” says Kodsi, who has family members in Israel, some of whom are being “called up” for uniformed duty. He continues, “We pray for the families of the kidnapped hostages. We grieve for the victims of this massacre. And, we demand justice.”
The building will be illuminated twice every hour, for five minutes, between 5 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. to midnight. Florida is home to the third-largest Jewish population in the U.S., with approximately 620,000 Jewish people residing in the state. Of these, an estimated 550,000 live in the three counties of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach.