Pro-Palestinian protests took a turn Saturday as hundreds of demonstrators filled Columbus Circle, at one point dragging a burning Israeli flag into the street and issuing a dire warning to those who support Israel: “Your days are numbered.”
“For those who support genocide in the US your days are over and will end,” one organizer shouted into the microphone.
“The US government is Israel’s #1 funder of terrorism.”
About 300 protesters started at Columbus Circle around 2 p.m. and marched down the West Side to the American Museum of Natural History.
They flooded The Shops at Columbus Circle, chanting, “Bombs will fall while you shop,” prompting store owners to quickly run to shut their doors.
Some protesters also harassed a woman carrying a pro-Israel sign, grabbed her, along with a sign held by a nearby man, and shouted at them.
The woman was able to run to police, who escorted her several blocks away.
A group of pro-Palestinian supporters were seen holding the country’s flag while a man was seen dragging an Israeli flag down the street as it burned. Valentina Jaramillo The statue of Abraham Lincoln was also wrapped in a Palestinian flag and his hat was plastered with a sticker that read, “Every time the media lies, a neighborhood in Gaza dies.”Valentina Jaramillo
A statue of Abraham Lincoln was also draped in a Palestinian flag and his hat was slapped with a sticker that read, “Every time the media lies, the neighborhood in Gaze dies.”
The museum was cordoned off when protesters arrived nearly three hours later, and about 30 officers lined up to block the entrance.
Protesters demanded the police move and let them in, chanting, “One, two, three, four, open the museum doors.”
The museum closed two hours early Saturday in anticipation of the protests, claimed Nerdeen Kiswani, of the pro-Palestinian group Within Our Lifetime, which organized Saturday’s demonstration along with many others in the Big Apple since Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7. kidnapped more than 200 people.
Protesters defaced a statue of Abraham Lincoln with a sticker reading: “Every time the media lies, a neighborhood in Gaza dies” while wrapping it in a Palestinian flag.Valentina Jaramillo Protesters also entered shopping malls on their way to the museum, and shop owners quickly ran to closed their doors as protesters chanted: “Bombs fall while you shop.” Valentina Jaramillo Several protesters also harassed a woman carrying a pro-Israel sign, grabbing her and a man’s sign and shouting at them.Valentina Jaramillo
“This museum earns over a million dollars a day, so the fact that they are willing to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars to not be associated with Palestine really shows a lot, how cowardly they are,” he claimed.
“What we plan to do is go inside as normal New Yorkers, to see the colonial exhibit… it seems bad for you to lock up a bunch of people just because they support Palestine,” he said, adding, “The museum’s Board of Directors has people in there is the Zionist.”
Protesters also prayed outside the museum.
Protesters headed to the National Museum of American History on the West Side, where they demanded the doors be opened.Valentina Jaramillo “The museum makes over a million dollars a day, so the fact that they’re willing to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars to not be associated with Palestine really shows a lot , how cowardly they are,” said Nerdeen Kiswani.Valentina Jaramillo
Police had threatened to arrest protesters for vandalizing a Starbucks near West 64th Street on their way to the museum, but no one was arrested as the crowd began to leave, the NYPD later said.
Kiswani said protesters took a stand after Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul showed support for Israel.
“Israel bombs, US pays, how many children did you kill today?” he chanted, before the now-public ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations, “Joe Biden, you can’t hide, we’re charging you with genocide.”
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
