More than 150 pro-Palestinian protestors were arrested while calling for a Gaza ceasefire in New York City as demands mount for Biden to stop giving aid to Israel.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered on the steps of the New York City Public Library and marched toward Senator Kirsten Gillibrand Midtown office Friday evening, before blocking traffic on 5th Avenue.
Protestors called for the end of US aid to Israel as it defends itself against Hamas terrorists, who are holding around 200 people hostage since their brutal October 7 slaughtering that killed 1,400 people.
Rioters chanted, ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ and ‘Ceasefire now,’ while the NYPD announced on loudspeaker that those who refuse to disperse would be arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.
Video footage shows officers asking each protestor individually to remove themselves from the street, before handcuffing them if they refused. New York City corrections busses drove off with those arrested as their pro-Palestine friends cheered.
The protestors demanded Senator Gilibrand to call a ceasefire, threatening to not stop until she does.
BREAKING: 150+ New Yorkers are being arrested for demanding ceasefire in Gaza!
Our movement won’t stand by while our government bankrolls war crimes.
It’s time to end the blockade, send in humanitarian aid, and build a just & lasting peace. #CeasefireNow! pic.twitter.com/pxyGAVpON5
— NYC-DSA 🌹 (@nycDSA) October 21, 2023
This comes after Gillibrand called for full military aid for Israel from the US government during an event Wednesday.
Earlier Friday, pro-Palestine protestors gathered at Bryant Park and City Hall calling for the end of US aid to Israel, as anti-Semitic protests spread across the country.
Many participants engaged in Islamic prayers, waved Palestinian flags, and wore Arab headscarves called Keffiyeh, at City Hall before marching to Wall Street.
The rally was sponsored by a coalition of Muslim groups as well as NYC Democratic Socialists of America, a group that some Democratic politicians have distanced themselves from in recent days over claims of anti-Semitism
Rep. Shri Thanedar, a democrat from Michigan, announced last week that he is renouncing his membership in the left-wing group after it promoted a pro-Palestinian rally a day after Hamas’ deadly terrorist attack on Israel.
This is the latest protest as thousands took to the streets across the globe – in Bangladesh, South Korea, Lebanon and Iraq – with some burning American, British and Israeli flags and holding signs that read ‘USA go to hell and ‘Death to Israel.’
Hamas terrorists are believed to be holding hundreds of hostages, including American citizens, nearly two weeks after the deadly surprise attack.
Some voiced concerns about the violence affecting civilians on both sides of the conflict.
‘I think Hamas absolutely needs to be condemned. Violence against civilians is always awful and the violence that Israel has been carrying out against Palestinian civilians for over 75 year is condemnable as is Hamas’s attacks,’ New York City resident Oren Schweitzer said to CBS News at the protest.
‘Half of the people who live in Gaza are kids, schools have been bombed, hospitals have been bombed. no one has access to water, food,’ he added.
‘I don’t see how bombing Gaza is preventing more people from joining Hamas. I don’t se how killing thousands of children will keep anyone around the world safer,’ another protestor said.
The rally featured a large police presence and barricades closed the streets for protestors as they walked downtown to City Hall Park.
Arrested protesters are arriving by the busload, with fellow activists here to cheer them on 🫡🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/kfhKbB34BC
— NYC-DSA 🌹 (@nycDSA) October 21, 2023
5/
Arrests of Palestine supporters after NYPD police form a perimeter on 3rd Avenue between East 47th and 48th Streets.CEASEFIRE NOW!
RALLY FOR GAZA!
March began from New York Public Library-Main Branch,
Manhattan, New York, NY, Friday, October 20, 2023.#nyc pic.twitter.com/nIZQnhWUHX— DataInput (@datainput) October 21, 2023
6/
Arrests of Palestine supporters after NYPD police form a perimeter on 3rd Avenue between East 47th and 48th Streets.CEASEFIRE NOW!
RALLY FOR GAZA!
March began from New York Public Library-Main Branch,
Manhattan, New York, NY, Friday, October 20, 2023.#nyc pic.twitter.com/eCiSYgvDug— DataInput (@datainput) October 21, 2023
The line of cops and comrades arrested for demanding a #CeasefireNOW #NoMoneyForMassacres outside @SenGillibrand’s Manhattan office, one hour ago: pic.twitter.com/QuQs8rGZJI
— NYC-DSA 🌹 (@nycDSA) October 21, 2023
It’s unclear if there were two separate protests by different organizers.
This comes a day after hundreds rallied in New York City’s Times Square to demand the release of hostages taken by Hamas.
US officials have reported that Hamas is holding around 200 people hostage after a surprise attack by Hamas terrorists who killed more than 1,400 people.
Billboards showed the faces of people believed to be held hostage, including babies and elderly people, as the crowd chanted, ‘Bring them home.’
Some who had relatives who are thought to be held hostage spoke out.
Ronan and Orna Neutra, whose 22-year-old son, Omer, is thought to be held captive, described him as a ‘natural leader and avid athlete who captained the basketball, volleyball and soccer teams at his school,’ according to Reuters.
Omer Neutra, the grandson of Holocaust survivors, joined the Israel Defense Forces,, proponing college.
‘We are heartbroken. We are worried,’ his mother said to Reuters. ‘But we are focused and resolute in doing everything within our power to bring Omer back.’
Pro-Palestinian protests have occurred across the US and in other parts of the world, some becoming violent or openly anti-Semitic – including one pro-Palestine protest in Berlin, where 65 cops were injured.
Screaming protesters burnt British and American flags, told the US to ‘go to hell’ and urged Hamas suicide bombers to attack Tel Aviv as furious demonstrations erupted across the world today ahead of an imminent Israeli ground invasion of Gaza.
Tens of thousands of protesters rallied across Egypt to condemn Israel’s constant bombardment of Gaza, with large crowds flooding into Cairo’s iconic Tahir Square, while thousands of Jordanians marched in the capital Amman chanting slogans urging Hamas terrorists to intensify their strikes on Israel.
‘Oh Hamas, hit them with al-Qassam rockets… Bring the suicide bombers to Tel Aviv ,’ the Jordanian protesters chanted, referring to the military wing of Hamas.
And hundreds of Iraqi protesters gathered at Iraq’s border crossing with Jordan in a demonstration organised by the Coordination Framework, an alliance of Iran-backed Shia political groups and militias in Iraq.
A thousand more protesters gathered outside the US embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, today where they burned Israeli flags and portraits of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden.
In Bangladesh, the scene of fierce demonstrations last week, hundreds of Muslims gathered on the streets of Dhaka following their Friday prayers, while in Turkey, demonstrators set fire to British and Israeli flags as well as an effigy of Netanyahu.
And in South Korea’s capital of Seoul, scores of protesters shouted ‘Stop the massacre by Israel’ as they waved Palestinian flags and raised anti-Israel banners.
The protests come as Israel prepares for a imminent ground invasion of the war-torn enclave, with columns of Israeli tanks massed on the Israel-Gaza border and thousands of soldiers readying themselves for battle today.
The ignorance of America’s youths. They are so easily led down any path against the American people. Instead of college you should go live a month with Hamas in Gaza. That would be an education you would learn from.
Thank God these ignorant children are not in charge of anything.
And this
is exactly why Israel’s Arab neighbors don’t want anything to do with the Palestinians. They have caused problems wherever their at.