A pro-Palestinian crowd with their faces covered tore apart an Israeli flag in Manhattan on Monday and chanted their wish for Israelis to die, as they clashed with a pro-Israel group chanting for the Palestinians shouted: They must all die now!’
A large number of NYPD officers were stationed between the rival gatherings, keeping them apart.
Some in the pro-Palestine camp blamed Israel for the weekend terrorist attacks, launched by Hamas, which left 900 Israelis dead.
One pro-Palestine protester roused their crowd with a chant of: ‘When Palestine is under attack. What are we doing?’
Their colleagues replied: ‘We are fighting back.’
Another group began to shred the Israeli flag, to widespread cheers. Some stamped on it.
Pro-Palestinian activists are seen shredding the Israeli flag in Manhattan on Monday
A pro-Palestinian woman shouts in a loud hailer at the tense Monday rally
Pro-Palestinian protesters are seen outside the consulate of Israel on Monday
Pro-Palestine protesters stamped on the Israeli flag, and appeared to have set it on fire
In Boston, another pro-Palestine group stood on the American flag and called the United States ‘legit gangsters’.
In Manhattan, near the Israeli consulate, one member of the pro-Palestine group shouted, according to The New York Post: ‘We must kill them all! We’re going to kill them all! You better leave our country! You better get out of there!’
Jesse, 45, of Nolita, told the paper he thought Hamas’ attack was justified.
“Fighting back is not terrorism,” he said, waving a sign that read: “End aid to racist Israel.”
‘They are not just occupying. They control, they kill. They are pushing schools. They fill pits with cement.
“They have every right to fight back.”
Isaiah compared the Israeli government to slave owners.
‘You can’t compare. It’s like comparing what the slaves did to get out of slavery,’ he said.
One pro-Palestinian activist shouted at the Israeli contingent to prepare to be ‘roasted’.
“We are going to liberate Palestine,” the protester said, according to the protester Fox News.
‘We have already liberated parts of it. So get ready to grill.’
Pro-Israel protesters light candles in Manhattan on Monday
The pro-Israel crowd responded with their own taunts.
“They must all die now!” a man shouted at the Palestinian supporters, according to The New York Post.
“We must protect Jews here and in America!”
Karen Lichtbraun, who leads Yad Yamin New York, where members “encourage Jewish self-defense,” told the paper that Hamas is terrorists and not pro-Palestine.
“They are bombing our homeland,” she said.
‘They kidnapped our people. They are torturing our people. They invaded our homes. They drag our women through the streets. They grab children directly from their mothers’ arms.
‘There is nothing pro-Palestine about it. They are terrorists.
“They just committed war crimes,” she added, comparing the group to the Nazis.
Pro-Palestinian activists are seen by the Israeli consulate on Monday
A crowd of pro-Palestinian activists confronted the pro-Israel protesters
Several pro-Israel activists performed the Am-Yisrael-Chai, a religious celebratory dance, when music played
On the pro-Israel side of the demonstration, demonstrators waved the national flag
There was tension within the pro-Israel group over the rhetoric, The New York Post reported.
One young pro-Israel supporter shouts: ‘Death to Hamas!’ into a megaphone was silenced by another pro-Israel woman.
“Please stop,” she said. “You make us look psychotic.”
The man replied: ‘That liberal s*** has to stop now.’