Five thousand people attended Saturday’s “Flood Brooklyn for Palestine” event at 72nd Street and Fifth Avenue in Bay Ridge, calling on the United States to end its support for Israel.
After tensions escalated on a Brooklyn street where thousands had congregated and refused to disperse, video of the violent altercation showed police from New York City clashing with anti-Israel protesters.
Disturbing video shows police attempting to remove pro-Palestine flag-waving protesters from the throng and a pick-up truck full of rallygoers after the protesters have blocked the street for hours. It was also stated that some participants had started little fires.
According to the news source, police arrested around 20 persons.
The protest started in a neighborhood with a substantial Arab and Middle Eastern population in New York City.
A protester yelled that they wanted the full liberation of Palestine… every single inch, from the river to the sea, adding that they are not like other groups merely calling for a cease-fire. The woman wore a T-shirt from the event organizer and socialist group Within Our Lifetime.
The site claims that one protester was carrying a placard showing a person discarding an Israeli flag.
Jewish Republican councilman Ari Kagan slammed the event, saying it was a call to violence disguised as a freedom rally.
This was not a demonstration demanding the release of hundreds of kidnapped Israelis and Americans or a push for a two-state solution. I strongly condemn this protest for being a disgraceful display of support for HAMAS and hatred of Israel,” Kagan wrote on X (previously Twitter).
The Jewish Voice, which published footage filmed at the event, reports that such rallies have been occurring regularly since October 7, when Hamas began a terrorist offensive against Jewish communities in Gaza.
Pro-Hamas protesters in Manhattan waved swastikas and torched an Israeli flag, according to The Jewish Voice’s coverage of the event.
