Pro-Palestinian supporters foiled a Christmas Eve caroling event in New York by trying to drown out the singing, but attendees carried on anyway.
The event in Washington Square Park on Sunday drew protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The festive chorus was punctuated by pro-Palestine chants as protesters circled the perimeter in a huge SUV with monstrous car wheels.
The counter event to the annual carol service was organized by the group 'Within Our Lifetime'.
The group shared stories on Instagram during the takeover, with the caption: “No party, until the liberation.”
Pro Palestine protesters attempted to disrupt a Christmas carol service in New York's Washington Square Park
Protesters surrounded the area with car caravans, honking their horns and playing loud music
The annual Christmas carol around the tree started at 5 p.m.
Protesters quickly surrounded the area with car caravans, honking horns, playing loud music and bragging that they were disrupting the service.
But the carolers remained unfazed by the disruption and persistently continued to sing.
“They were disrupting the place, we were singing louder,” Ed Cooper, 76, told The New York Post.
“We didn't want them to make this their night. Yes, it was annoying, but Christmas for me is about turning the negative into a positive.
“I heard that honking and that loud music and I said to myself, this is God's way of telling me that I'm not singing loud enough. I sang myself hoarse.'
Another singer, Shannon, from the West Village, branded the protesters “sons of bitches” despite being in favor of a ceasefire.
“Carolers of all races and creeds sing together in the spirit of the holidays, and these assholes drive around with music blasting from huge speakers and honking their horns incessantly as a tactic to – annoy the ever-loving s***out people Whose support are they trying to win? I really don't understand,” she told the outlet.
Carolers remained undaunted despite the interruption, vowing to sing until they were “hoarse.”
The counter event to the carol service was organized by the pro-Palestinian 'Within Our Lifetime' group
'I'm quite young, and apparently a lot of people my age think it's bad to kill Christmas for a good cause. I find it misleading and counterproductive.
“I don't think anyone who came out tonight has a better chance of coming out for Palestine.”
The event was part of a broader series of demonstrations in the tri-state area.
Among them was the “Flood the Highways for Gaza” car caravan that took place in New York and New Jersey.
Participants were invited to bring along flags, keffiyehs and signs, and 'turn the highways into a flood of support'.
The protest came amid news that at least 68 people were killed in a deadly Christmas Eve airstrike on a refugee camp in Gaza.
The protest unfolded after news that 68 people were killed in a deadly Israeli airstrike on Christmas Eve on the Maghazi refugee camp east of Deir al-Balah, according to health officials in Gaza.
Palestinians injured in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip are taken to hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on Sunday, December 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
Frenzied Palestinians were seen carrying the dead, including a baby, and wounded after the attack on the Maghazi refugee camp east of Deir al-Balah.
Meanwhile, the number of Israeli soldiers killed in battle over the weekend rose to 15 following the death of IDF soldier Sgt. Birhanu Kassie, 22.
The city has been rocked by waves of pro-Israel and pro-Palestine marches since the October 7 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people and took hundreds hostage.
Pro-Palestine supporters are demanding a ceasefire in Israel's retaliatory attacks, which have so far killed more than 20,000 people, despite condemnation on the international stage.
“The war is exacting a very high price from us, but we have no choice but to continue fighting,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.