Pro Palestinian protesters rally outside of a synagogue, to protest an organization that promotes Aliyah to Israel, as counter protesters gather in opposition.
Photo by Yoav Ginsburg/ZUMA Press Wire
Mayor Eric Adams and other city leaders have condemned Wednesday night’s protest outside a Manhattan synagogue as “totally unacceptable,” after hundreds of demonstrators rallied against a Jewish immigration organization’s event inside the Upper East Side house of worship.
Some 200 protesters gathered at 7 p.m. on Nov. 19 outside the historic Park East Synagogue, where Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organization that assists Jewish immigration to Israel, held a scheduled program.
The demonstration outside East 68th Street and Lexington Avenue was organized by the Palestinian Assembly for Liberation NY/NJ, which promoted the protest on social media as a stand against “settler recruiting.” They were met by a group of counterprotesters who shouted back at the pro-Palestine demonstrators. Both crowds numbered between 75 and 100 people, according to police sources.
Videos posted online showed NYPD officers keeping protesters and a small group of counter-demonstrators separated by metal barricades. In a video shared with amNewYork, one counter protester is seen clashing with masked demonstrators, calling them “p**sies” and “cowards,” and telling them to take their masks off before the NYPD intervenes.
In other videos, anti-Israel protestors can be heard chanting slogans including “Globalize the intifada,” “Death to the IDF” and “Resistance … take another settler out,”
Police confirmed officers responded around 7 p.m. and that the demonstration dispersed peacefully.
“The demonstration concluded, and no arrests were made,” a DCPI spokesperson said.
Mayor Adams decried the antisemitic language voiced during Wednesday’s demonstration as “unacceptable.”
“What happened at Park East Synagogue last night was totally unacceptable no matter your faith or background,” Adams posted on X. “This type of protest and vile language should concern us all. When you desecrate one house of worship, you desecrate them all.”
Adams added that he intends to visit Park East Synagogue “to stand with our Jewish community” when he returns from Uzbekistan on Nov. 23. Hizzoner arrived there on Nov. 18 after spending four days in Israel.
Dora Pekec, a spokesperson for Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, told amNewYork, “The Mayor-elect has discouraged the language used at last night’s protest and will continue to do so. He believes every New Yorker should be free to enter a house of worship without intimidation, and that these sacred spaces should not be used to promote activities in violation of international law.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul wrote on social media that Wednesday’s protest was “shameful” and a blatant attack on the Jewish community. Rep. Richie Torres said criticism of government policy is one thing, but attacking a synagogue for being Jewish is “not criticism, it’s extremism” and amounts to discrimination.
A deeper fight against antisemitism
Park East Synagogue, founded in 1890, has long served New York City’s Jewish community and counts numerous Holocaust survivors among its members, including Arthur Schneier, who has been its senior rabbi for roughly 63 years.
Representatives for the synagogue did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication, but Park East Synagogue Cantor Benny Rogosnitzky told the New York Post the demonstration and the chants heard by those in attendance was “very disturbing.”
Jewish advocacy organizations echoed the alarm raised, saying the event marked “the latest example of the growing normalization of antisemitic intimidation and incitement in American society, where even Jewish houses of worship are now not safe.”
“The calls to ‘Globalize the Intifada’ and praise for ‘resistance,’ a common euphemism for terrorist acts, represent direct violent threats to a New York City Jewish community already facing unprecedented levels of antisemitic hostility.” Lisa Katz, chief government affairs officer for the Combat Antisemitism Movement, said Thursday.
Citywide, anti-Semitic incidents have accounted for 55.69% of all reported hate crimes since Oct. 7, 2023, following the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel and the ensuing conflict.
Brooklyn Council Member Inna Vernikov, an outspoken advocate against antisemitism in the city and staunch supporter of Israel, called the protest a “despicable, unacceptable and antisemitic riot.”
In a post on X, Vernikov urged her followers who want to help “prevent the type of riot that took place last night” to contact their local council member to urge them to sign on to her bill, Intro. 1344.
The legislation would make it a misdemeanor to obstruct students, staff, or university employees from entering classrooms or attending student-organization meetings and events at educational facilities. She said that it would then be updated to include houses of worship.
The measure, sponsored by Vernikov and Council Members Joseph Morano and Vickie Paladino, carries penalties of up to a $1,000 fine, six months in jail or both. If enacted, the law would take effect 90 days after approval.
→ Continue reading at amNY
