Masses of pro-Palestine protesters took to the streets of New York City and made their way to the New York Times building, criticizing their coverage of the war in Israel.
On Thursday, demonstrators took over the lobby of the building, holding up Palestinian flags and a sign that said ‘Ceasefire now.’ They read off names of those killed in Gaza from a paper called ‘The New York Crimes.’
Photos posted on social media show the group vandalized the front of the building. Outside, New York Police Department vehicles were spray painted with ‘Free Gaza’ on the side.
Roughly 1,500 pro-Palestine protesters descended on the Big Apple Thursday, reported WABC.
Earlier in the day, New York City high school students, parents and teachers participated in a walk out protest calling for a ceasefire.
Protesters read names of those killed in Gaza from a paper called ‘The New York Crimes’
Outside the New York Times building, NYPD vehicles were spray painted with ‘Free Gaza’ on the side
The front of The New York Times building defaced. Police were eventually able to clear the lobby
Organized by groups such as Teachers Unite, NYC Educators for Palestine and Palestinian Youth Movement, the students walked out of class and gathered at Bryant Park.
Crowds chanted, ‘From river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ a phrase used to call for a Palestinian takeover of the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, which includes Israel.
‘We’ve called on people to walk out of work. We have called on people to walk out of their schools. Many people have responded to that call,’ said Munir Marwan of the Palestinian Youth Movement to CBS New York.
The group is calling for a ceasefire and an end to what they called Israeli genocide.
After gathering at the New York Public Library in Bryant Park, the group headed to to the New York Times building where they swarmed the lobby.
Protesters chanted that the New York Times had ‘blood on their hands,’ and encouraged employees to resign.
Police were eventually able to clear the building, and the protests continued on.
Ahead of the walk out, New York City schools Chancellor David Banks warned teachers about violating Education Department rules on political speech, reported Chalkbeat.
‘When speech and action — even on one’s personal time — undermines the mission or core functions of NYCPS, we will review and take appropriate action on a case-by-case basis,’ he said in an email.
The demonstrations come as NYPD reported a 135 percent spike in hate crimes against Jewish and Muslim New Yorkers since the war began.
The month of October saw 101 hate crimes, of which 69 were against Jews as anti-Semitic crimes rose 331 percent since September and 214 percent since October of last year.
Roughly 1,500 pro-Palestine protesters took to the streets Thursday
Hundreds of NYC high school students and teachers walked out and marched at Bryant Park
There have also been eight hate crimes against Muslim New Yorkers – a 700 percent increase since September and 800 percent since October, 2022, when there were zero.
Fighting in the Middle East has intensified in the 34 days since Hamas’ brutal October 7 onslaught against Israel.
Israel has agreed to begin daily four-hour humanitarian pauses in its assault on Hamas in northern Gaza as part of an effort to get hostages out, the White House announced.
According to Israeli officials, the October 7 Hamas attack killed 1,400 people and seized about 240 hostages in the worst attack in the country’s history.
Israel retaliated with an aerial bombing and ground offensive that the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said has killed more than 10,500 people, many of them children.
