Times Square became the gathering place of hundreds of protesters — and many counter protesters. A heavily policed pro-Palestine rally took place one day after a Palestinian military group invaded Israel, further exacerbating ongoing tension in the Middle East.
“The enthusiasm, the excitement is very clear,” Miya Tada from the Party for Socialism and Liberation told Gothamist. “People are here to defend Palestine — even within the United States.”
Israel and Palestine are engaged in a decades-long battle over territorial rights in the Holy Land, a Middle Eastern region of great importance to Christians, Muslims and Jews. The most recent incident in the deadly conflict occurred on Saturday when Hamas, a military group controlling the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian enclave, engaged in a surprise attack on Israel during a Jewish holiday. Hamas fighters reportedly entered nearby Israeli towns where they abducted residents and killed others. In retaliation, Israeli forces launched airstrikes into Gaza – further adding to the death toll – estimated to be in the hundreds by Israeli and Palestinian officials. This past weekend is now one of the deadliest Israel-Palestine conflicts in recent history.
The attacks made headlines around the world – and led to strong reactions from those on either side of the conflict, including in New York City, which is home to more than 1.6 million Jewish people according to city estimates. One of those responses came from the People’s Forum – an organization that represents the working class and other marginalized communities – which urged protesters to take part in the pro-Palestine rally on Sunday.
During the protest, which began at 1 p.m., attendees held signs and waved Palestinian flags in an area blocked off by police. Different organizers took to the podium to rile up the crowd.
After an hour, the protesters — now a much larger crowd — began marching down West 43rd Street and Broadway while still chanting….
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