More than 7,000 anti-Israel protesters shut down the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday, marching to cheer on the Hamas terrorist group amid Israel's incursion into Gaza.
"Freedom by any means, land back by any means," a 24-year-old man shouted during the three-mile Flood Brooklyn for Gaza march, the New York Post reported.
"I believe the settler state of Israel must be taken down."
The protest was like many around the world, but this one began near the Jewish Hasidic Lubavitcher headquarters where a Sabbath festival was being held, according to the Post.
The protesters were openly hostile to Israel under the guise of supporting innocence in Gaza, holding signs with antisemitic slogans that read, "From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will be Free" and "F**k Israel, Justice Palestine," the Post reported.
The Brooklyn Bridge's Manhattan-bound side was shut down by the massive protest around 6 p.m.
Home to between 1.6 and 2 million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Muslims, New York has for the past three weeks been rocked by demonstrations, rallies, and vigils in support of the Palestinians and Israel.
Activists were also up in arms against Israel's conflict in Gaza.
Hundreds of people were arrested Friday when police broke up a large demonstration of mostly Muslim New Yorkers who had taken over the main hall of Manhattan's Grand Central station in protest at Israel.
"We're mobilizing all across New York City, flooding Brooklyn," to call for the "liberation (of) each and every single Palestinian," said 21-year-old protester Abdullah Akl.
Protest organizer Nerdeen Kiswani took aim at American "politicians" for their unwavering support of Israel.
"We are here as New Yorkers to say that we're against this and we're against the politicians, the local politicians as well like New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul, who have both pledged unconditional support to Israel," Kiswani said.
Their stance "means that they provide unconditional support to the killing of our people," added Kiswani.
Adams, who governs a city of nearly 9 million people, including the world's largest Jewish community after Israel, has repeatedly assured pro-Israel rallies that Israel's "fight" is New York's fight too.
New York media and AFPTV estimated the crowd at thousands of demonstrators, who waved "Free Palestine" and "By any means necessary" placards.
Information from Agence France-Presse was used to compile this report.
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Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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