Hundreds of Protesters Rally for Palestine in NYC as Israeli Death Toll Tops 600

 by Caroline Downey

Protesters converged on Times Square in New York City Sunday to rally support for Palestinians after Hamas invaded Israel and perpetrated atrocities including murder, rape, and torture against citizens, about 700 of whom have died so far.

The participants, many of whom wore white keffiyehs, or scarfs that are symbols of Palestinian nationalism, yelled slogans such as “New York City you will see, Palestine will be free.’”

“Zionism has got to go,” others chanted.

“Long live the intifada,” was heard, referencing the Palestinian people’s self-professed ongoing struggle against Israel’s alleged occupation of land that Palestinians claim as their own.

“Resistance is justified when people are occupied,” “Zionism is genocide,” and “End all U.S. aid to apartheid Israel” were among the phrases printed on posters carried by pro-Palestinians demonstrators.

Some signs had undertones of violence “By any means necessary” and “Glory to our martyrs”, a couple read.

Many families showed up at the event, including some with their kids. One child who looked about five screamed, ”Free Palestine!”

A Jewish man in his 20s said that multiple friends of his were abducted by Hamas, the terrorist ruler of the Gaza Strip, along the southern Israeli border. He walked around the protest, offering information about Hamas’s war crimes to anyone who would listen. He mentioned the weekend music festival in Gaza, which Hamas encircled before mowing down with machine guns hundreds of Israeli youth. Israel’s Search and Recovery Operations found at least 260 bodies at the site, multiple outlets reported.

The tragic cases of two women who were captured at the festival by the terrorists have circulated on X. One woman, Noa, was seen in a video being kidnapped and crying for help as she was driven away on a Hamas motorcycle, while the man she was with had his arms forcibly held behind his back by terrorists. Another woman, who has since been identified as a 30-year-old German national, Shani Louk, was kidnapped and murdered by Hamas, who then paraded her corpse on the back of a truck while terrorists desecrated it, spitting on her and cheering.

A red-haired progressive white woman in her 20s intervened to tell the Jewish man at the Times Square march, “We don’t support Hamas. We support the Palestinians.”

But that was not the consensus of the entire pro-Palestinian group. A boy who said he is Palestinian told National Review, “I support Hamas. They’re the only chance we have.”

One young woman told National Review, “Recently Palestinians crossed into Israeli territory, and this protest is in support of them.”

A number of Jewish individuals also came to support the Palestinian cause. An elderly Jewish man said, “My hope is that Israel will get out of the occupied territory.”

“We must stop all aid to Israel,” he said.

The event’s co-sponsors included many socialist and pro-Palestinian youth organizations, such as the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the Palestinian Youth Movement. The People’s Forum, a socialist group that has collaborated with a number of radical-left and Marxist activists, advertised the event on X, formerly known as Twitter. Many members of the Democratic Socialists of America — a group New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the “squad,” is loosely affiliated with — also attended Sunday’s protest.

“I’m personally terrified by the language coming from Israel,” a DSA member said. “And the Biden administration is just saying ‘we support Israel.’ I’m hopeful that Israel’s over-response will shine a light and enough people will see.” He said he had heard about the protest through the DSA.

Many hours after most Western leaders condemned Hamas’s attacks on Israel, President Biden released a statement Saturday, saying, “We stand ready to offer all appropriate means of support to the Government and people of Israel.”

“Terrorism is never justified,” the White House said. “Israel has a right to defend itself and its people. The United States warns against any other party hostile to Israel seeking advantage in this situation. My Administration’s support for Israel’s security is rock solid and unwavering.”

A small counter-protest congregated across 44th street on Sunday, flying many Israeli flags. “Murderers!” one woman bellowed across to the pro-Palestinian side. A transgender woman, Hannah Simpson, holding a Pride flag with the Jewish star said, “This is not a protest. This is a vigil. We are in mourning.”

Simpson noted that Hamas, which governs Gaza, squanders resources on military armament instead of investing in the community.

“If they really wanted infrastructure to build out their economy, their desalinization, their IT, their citrus exports, that door has been opened to them, even if it’s a tunnel,” Simpson said. “They could be building orange groves. They’re not, they’re building silos. This is what this war is all about.”

Simpson said Hamas will likely continue its tactics of making targets out of Palestinian civilians as the conflict escalates.

“They intentionally will put a children’s service center in the same building as a terrorist cell so that when it’s demolished they can say, ‘This children’s service center was demolished by Israel,’ not mentioning that the building was also used to launch a rocket,” Simpson said.

“Now they’re going to use Israelis as human shields and as prisoners of war,” Simpson added.

Even as it’s being invaded, Israel is warning Gaza civilians before demolishing buildings believed to house Hamas operations, Simpson said. A common IDF practice is roof-knocking, or dropping non-explosive devices on the roofs of buildings in Palestinian territories to give notice to civilians to flee.

On Sunday, Israel formally declared war with Hamas, the first time the Jewish state has undertaken such a move since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

“Hamas wants to murder us all,” Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahum said on X. “This is an enemy that murders children and mothers in their homes, in their beds, an enemy that abducts the elderly, children and young women, that slaughters and massacres our citizens, including children, who simply went out to enjoy the holiday.”

ZAKA, a volunteer outfit assisting Israel with dead bodies, reported Sunday that more than 600 Israelis have been killed as a result of the Hamas invasion. That number is expected to rise, with more than 2,000 wounded thus far.

“This is the new norm. This is f**king scary. This is not going to end tomorrow, and it’s not going to end well for anyone,” Simpson said.

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