Crowds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators packed the streets of Brooklyn on Saturday as they referred to as on the U.S. authorities to cease sending aide to Israel.
The march was organized by the Palestinian-led neighborhood group Within Our Lifetime, and individuals stretched for a number of blocks as they traveled from the Brooklyn Museum to the Brooklyn Bridge, chanting “Free, free Palestine!”
The demonstration was the most recent in a string of protests round New York City since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. Saturday’s march befell a day after Israeli forces started what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel referred to as “the second stage of the war.”
Waving a Palestinian flag as she marched, Alaa Essafi mentioned that after Israel’s escalated assaults, it felt particularly essential that she journey from her residence in New Jersey to assist her “brothers and sisters in Palestine.”
“Together we will send a message,” Ms. Essafi, 21, mentioned.
The museum has a big outside plaza, and it has been the location of a number of large-scale gatherings, together with a Black Lives Matter demonstration in 2020 that drew greater than 15,000 individuals.
Standing outdoors the museum, Hany Barakat, 34, mentioned he had household in Gaza and that some had been killed throughout current airstrikes.
“It has to stop.” mentioned Mr. Barakat, who’s Egyptian and lives in New Jersey.
The protest prompted the police to close down a number of blocks of the Eastern Parkway. Helicopters and a drone hovered above the group.
The crowd waved banners and held indicators that bore messages together with, “We demand a free Palestine” and “Let Gaza Live.” At the Brooklyn Bridge, a number of individuals scaled a steel assist construction and unfurled Palestinian flags, prompting protesters to erupt into chants of, “Gaza! Gaza! Gaza!”
The demonstration started to skinny because it crossed into Manhattan and daylight pale. Just earlier than 7 p.m., as the group streamed via SoHo, the Muslim name to prayer echoed via the streets and occasion organizers instructed everybody to cease marching to permit time to wish.
The closing vacation spot was Union Square, the place tons of of protesters stopped to beat drums. Some carried indicators that learn, “Support Palestinian resistance,” whereas others climbed the sq.’s iconic George Washington statue.
Liset Cruz and Michael D. Regan contributed to this story.
Source link
