Pro-Palestinian rally met by Israel supporters in Midtown as Hochul slams ‘abhorrent’ demonstration after Hamas attack
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators, organized by the Democratic Socialists of America, rallied Sunday in the Big Apple — stomping on and burning the Israeli flag — as Islamic terrorists in the Gaza Strip continued their assault on the Jewish state.
Scores of counter-protesters turned out in support of Israel at the Manhattan rally, too, with verbal clashes between the opposing sides escalating throughout the day and at least one skirmish breaking out near the United Nations compound in Midtown.
One attendee in the pro-Palestinian camp was pictured holding up an image of a swastika on their phone — a day after 700 Jews were slaughtered by Hamas.
The New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) — the party of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and a couple dozen other prominent New York politicians — had announced the 1 p.m. rally in Times Square on Saturday just hours after Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel that left hundreds dead and thousands wounded.
The announcement drew immediate condemnation from Gov. Kathy Hochul, who called the planned demonstration “abhorrent and morally repugnant.”
A couple hundred demonstrators turned out to the rally at West 43rd Street and Broadway, shouting “Free Palestine!” and holding up signs saying, “End all US aid to Israel” and “Palestine will be free.”
“It’s not about Hamas,” Mohammed Radi, a West Bank-born New Jersey resident, told The Post. “It’s about civilian suffering and to stop the killing on both sides.
“I don’t want to see any Jewish people or any Palestinian people killed,” the man said.
Aaron Kirshenbaum, a recent college graduate from Brooklyn who attended the rally with his father, said, “It’s important for Judaism to be divorced from Zionism.
“Being aligned with an oppressive state is extremely limiting,” he said.
Israel-Hamas war: How we got here
2005: Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip more than three decades after winning the territory from Egypt in the Six-Day War.
2006: Terrorist group Hamas wins a Palestinian legislative election.
2007: Hamas seizes control of Gaza in a civil war.
2008: Israel launches military offensive against Gaza after Palestinian terrorists fired rockets into the town of Sderot.
2023: Hamas launches the biggest attack on Israel in 50 years, in an early-morning ambush Oct. 7, firing thousands of rockets and sending dozens of militants into Israeli towns.
Terrorists killed more than 1,200 Israelis, wounded more than 4,200, and took at least 200 hostage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to announce, “We are at war,” and vowed Hamas would pay “a price it has never known.”
The Gaza Health Ministry — which is controlled by Hamas — reported at least 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 12,500 injured since the war began.
Some of the rallygoers split off and marched to the Consulate General of Israel on Second Avenue near East 43rd Street, with that group growing to about 100 people by around 5 p.m.
Some 200 counter-demonstrators showed up to voice their opposition, and the two increasingly confrontational groups faced off behind police barricades set up on opposite sides of the street as cops kept watch.
“New York is allowing these f–king animals to protest,” counter-protester Richard Friend said. “They just murdered hundreds of innocent Israelis, and now they’re dancing in the streets!
“It’s an embarrassment to New York City.”
Tensions flared after several protesters — some draped in Palestinian flags — grabbed an Israeli flag, stomped it, ripped it and set it on fire.
When a counter-protester went to retrieve the flag, groups of people stormed past the barricades and scuffles broke out.
Cops could be seen struggling to control the crowd, with one man draped in a Palestinian flag taken to the ground by police officers.
“Anyone else comes out is gonna get arrested,” a frustrated officer finally told the mob. “That’s it.”
Three people were arrested for disorderly conduct and given summonses, police said. It wasn’t clear which side they were on.
Follow along with The Post’s live blog for the latest on Hamas’ attack on Israel
For many Israelis in New York, Sunday’s rally added insult to injury.
One counter-protester, Omri, a 27-year-old Israeli, was in tears as he recounted losing three friends in the surprise attack back home.
“They went for a party, a party for peace,” he said. “How can they celebrate this? They are killing people who want peace.”
Local politicians agreed.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Brooklyn Democrat, said in a statement that he “strongly and unequivocally condemns the hate-filled rally held by the DSA in New York City and any effort to support the barbaric, inhumane and despicable terrorist attack by Hamas on the State of Israel and its citizens.
“The bond between the United States and Israel will always be unbreakable,’’ he said.
Mayor Eric Adams also took to social media to denounce the rally.
“At a moment when innocent people are being slaughtered and children kidnapped in Israel, it is disgusting that this group of extremists would show support for terrorism,” he said on X.
“New York City rejects this. Do not use our streets to spread your hate.”
