Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters took to the streets of Brooklyn, New York, on Saturday to protest Israel’s bombing of the Gaza Strip.
Brooklyn, the largest borough in New York City, home to 1.6 to 2 million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Muslims, has been rocked for three weeks by demonstrations, rallies, and all-night vigils in support of the Palestinians or in support of Israel.
A mass sit-in against Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza was also organized by a New York Jewish organization on Friday at Manhattan’s Grand Central Station and hundreds of people were arrested by police as they dispersed.
Thousands of people gathered in Brooklyn, New York to protest against the ongoing Israeli military offensive on Gaza.
On Saturday, several organizations had called for “Brooklyn to be flooded” by a sea of people with a clear demand for “the immediate release of all Palestinians living under occupation for 75 years,” said one of the protesters, 21-year-old Abdullah Akl.
Local elected officials do not represent New York City, a mosaic of many cultures and religions, says activist Nerdine Kishwani.
Nerdine Kishwani, organizer of the demonstration, took aim at American “politicians” whose government strongly supports allied Israel, such as “New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, who have both pledged unconditional support” for the Jewish state.
Adams – mayor of a city of nearly 9 million people, home to the largest Jewish community in the world after Israel – has repeatedly asserted at pro-Israel rallies that the battle of Israel is also the battle of New York.
Police did not provide figures on the number of participants in the protests, but New York media and AFP TV estimated the crowd at thousands of demonstrators holding banners with the slogans “Free Palestine” and “By any means necessary”.