Clashes erupted between anti-Israel protest groups and pro-Israel counter-protesters after the former held a rally in a Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn on February 18 night, terming the residents as “settlers” and “Zionists.” The protest, led by the Pal-Awda activist group, took place in Boro Park, media reported.
Around 200 anti-Israel protesters gathered on a street in the neighbourhood within a barricaded area set up by the police. Residents of Jewish neighborhood residents and other pro-Israel counter protesters held protest on the sidewalk across the street. Dozens of police officers separated the two sides who were holding the protest in Brooklyn. The protest started just after sundown and the temperature was below freezing.
The anti-Israel protesters shouted slogans like “settlers settlers go back home, Palestine is ours alone,” “Zionists go to hell” and “We don’t want no Zionists here.” Majority of the protesters were wearing masks or keffiyehs to cover their faces, according to media reported.
They anti-Israel protesters shouted, “How many kids did you kill today?” to the beat of a snare drum. Some of the protesters held up their hands in an inverted triangle to showcase Hamas symbol towards Jewish counter protesters. Shouting at young girls walking from a crosswalk, a woman said, “you’re so gross. You’re disgusting.”
Children heading home from neighborhood yeshivas watched the scene from their bus windows. Through a megaphone, a man shouted, “There is only one solution, intifada revolution.” The anti-Israel protest organizers said they were holding protest against an Israeli real estate event in the area, accusing organisers of marketing land in the West Bank. Similar events have sparked several heated protests in the area since the war started between Israel and Hamas.
On the Jewish side, dozens of people, including children, and other counter protesters lined a police barricade across the street. Some were actively holding protest while others were curious passersby who stopped to take pictures on their phones. Several protesters held Israeli flag and shouted at anti-Israel crowd.
One man shouted, “Brooklyn doesn’t want you.” He said, “Get out of our neighborhood. We don’t want you here.” A group shouted, “Nazis go home.” Others called the protesters “terrorists.” Several protesters danced and sang along to a song in Hebrew played through a cellphone held up to a megaphone, media reported.
Several anti-Israel activists who walked into the Jewish side were shouted at and pushed out. As the protest wound down, the two opposing groups walked down opposite sides of the street, with some crossing back and forth, resulting in scuffles between two sides. The police tried to keep participants separated, and on the sidewalks, away from traffic.
As the anti-Israel group headed toward a subway station, New York Police Department Deputy Chief Richie Taylor urged neighborhood residents to not follow them any longer. Hundreds of protests have been held by anti-Israel activists in New York since the Hamas attack on Israel October 7, 2023. However, the rally on February stood out as the protests in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods are rare.
(with inputs from ANI)
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