New York City Mayor Eric Adams spoke out against pro-Palestinian protesters taking over Times Square during a rally Sunday afternoon.
Adams, who was on a ‘vanity tour’ to the South American countries of Ecuador and Colombia late last week but returned earlier on Sunday, said the streets of the Big Apple were not the place to ‘spread hate’ .
“Throughout the day I watched the protest that started in Times Square and moved through our streets to outside the Israeli Consulate General’s office in New York,” the mayor began.
“At a time when innocent people are being slaughtered and children kidnapped in Israel, it is disgusting that this group of extremists would show support for terrorism. I reject it. New York City rejects it. Don’t use our streets to spread your hate,” Adams wrote on Twitter.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams tweeted to speak out against pro-Palestinian protesters taking over Times Square during a rally Sunday afternoon
Adams, who was on a ‘vanity tour’ to South America but returned earlier on Sunday, said the streets of the Big Apple were not the place to ‘spread hate’.
Protesters in New York waved Palestinian flags during the peaceful march from Times Square to near both the Israeli consulate and the United Nations headquarters, where the Security Council was due to meet on the weekend’s violence
People demonstrate in support of Palestinians and Israelis after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an attack on Israel in Times Square on Sunday.
On Saturday night, the mayor declared the city’s full support for Israel, bathing a photo of the city hall in the blue and white colors of the Israeli flag.
“New York City has the largest Jewish population in the world outside of Israel, and we stand side by side with Israel every day — but tonight we do so with extra determination,” the mayor wrote.
About a thousand protesters gathered in Times Square in solidarity with Palestinians as pro-Israel marchers counter-protested after a bloody escalation in the Middle East conflict.
The rallies followed yesterday’s surge in violence that left hundreds and thousands wounded in the region, after the militant group Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel, which responded by hammering blockaded Palestinian Gaza with heavy airstrikes.
Demonstrators in New York waved Palestinian flags during the peaceful march from Times Square to near both the Israeli consulate and the United Nations headquarters, where the Security Council was to meet about the weekend’s violence.
“We are here in solidarity with the Palestinian people who are fighting 75 years of Israeli settler colonialism, settler violence and 16 years of military blockade of Gaza,” said Munir Atalla, a 30-year-old member of the Palestinian Youth Movement group. who were among the protest’s organizers.
“What we saw yesterday was the people of Gaza breaking out of their open-air prison,” he continued.
“It is impossible to see the events of this week without first understanding the context that the Israeli regime is based on violence … it is based on the extermination and extermination of Palestinians.”
On Saturday night, the mayor declared the city’s full support for Israel
The mayor tweeted a photo of City Hall bathed in the blue and white colors of the Israeli flag
About a thousand protesters gathered in Manhattan’s Times Square on Sunday to express support for the Palestinian people and to push against continued US military aid to Israel
Protesters in New York waved Palestinian flags during the peaceful march from Times Square to near both the Israeli consulate and the United Nations headquarters, where the Security Council was due to meet on the weekend’s violence
The protests came as the United States quickly reaffirmed its support for Israel, with US President Joe Biden ordering US ships and warplanes closer to his ally and sending new military aid.
“Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes,” chanted protesters in New York.
Sarah Barqawi (38) said that she came to Sunday’s rally ‘because my family is currently under siege in Gaza and just waiting to know if they will be alive or dead, without any electricity, without any support, without any supplies. ‘
“They are simply trying to defend their right to exist.”
Supporters of Israel face people rallying in support of Palestinians in Times Square on October 8, 2023 in New York
On Saturday night, the New York branches of organizations including Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now marched on the Brooklyn home of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to call for an end to all US military funding Israel.
Schumer was one of a chorus of US political leaders over the weekend to reiterate support for Israel and its ‘unshakable right to defend itself’.
At a separate Manhattan protest on Sunday, several hundred people waving Israeli flags condemned “evil Hamas,” including Ofer Jacobawitz, who said, “We must demonstrate for public opinion.”
“We just want everyone to know that we support Israel and whatever it does to defend itself and prevent this from ever happening again.”
Palestinian solidarity protests came as the United States quickly reaffirmed its support for Israel, with US President Joe Biden ordering US ships and warplanes closer to his ally and sending new military aid
New York Governor Kathy Hochul called Manhattan’s Palestine solidarity rally ‘abhorrent and morally repugnant’.
The governor ordered landmarks in the state, including the World Trade Center, to be lit up in blue and white
New York’s Moynihan Train Statin was lit up in blue and white this weekend
New York State officers in Albany were all bathed in blue and white light on Saturday night
New York Governor Kathy Hochul – who branded Manhattan’s Palestine solidarity rally ‘abhorrent and morally repugnant’ – meanwhile ordered landmarks in the state, including the World Trade Center and Niagara Falls, to be lit up in blue and white become
“New York is proud to be home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel,” she said.
While marching at the Palestine solidarity rally on Sunday, Morgan Bassichis, 40, said that ‘as a Jewish person who believes that everyone, without exception, should be free, I strongly support the Palestinian freedom movement, and I believe that all violence in the region is a consequence of the root cause of Israeli apartheid.’
“It’s our job as people in the US to get our government to stop funding Israel,” he said.