The significance of the protest site was not lost on New York’s Hasidic Jewish community. The marchers wound their way through Crown Heights, home to thousands of Hasidic Jews. Orthodox Rabbi Motti Seligson, 41, of Crown Heights noted that the march was scheduled at the same time as an annual gathering where more than 1,000 Hasidic college students from around the world come to Crown Heights.
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“We’re seeing forces of evil that are promoting murder genocide of Israelis and civilians in Gaza because of the support for the terrorist elements that are in their midst,” he said.
The pro-Hamas rally proved to be fun for all ages.
Earlier, Marie Edward, 67, of Sunset Park, held a sign reading “Zionism is terrorism” while watching others march along Eastern Parkway.
She accused Israelis of being the real “killers” and defended Hamas’ heinous Oct. 7 massacre.
“It’s not a question of ‘justified.’ If you are occupied, you fight back and do what they did…they will fight back,” she said.
One of the protesters was just 15 years old and bore a sign reading, “F–k Israel all my homies hate Israel” — a mockery of the Middle Eastern country made in the format of an internet meme.
“They do it too, only worse” is hardly a compelling argument.
Some ralliers were blatantly heard screaming, “Long Live Hamas as they paraded past the corner of 4th Avenue and East 13th Street.
The massive protest culminated at Union Square, with hundreds flooding lower Manhattan Park..
A makeshift basketball hoop was erected on the pavement out of Banksy’s iconic poster of a young girl releasing a heart balloon and multiple alternate side parking signs.
The amateur display read: “F–K ISRAEL. That’s what New Yorkers are saying”
If you peruse other news headlines on the rally, you’ll see that most news outlets identify the protest as a march for a “ceasefire in Gaza.” Looking at the signage and listening to the marchers screaming for Jewish blood, that’s a deliberate falsification. The march was for the elimination of the Jewish state and the people who lived in it.