Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters demanding a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war brought traffic to a standstill in midtown Manhattan on Thursday evening, marking one of the largest actions in New York City in recent weeks.
Earlier in the day, dozens of students protested at schools across the city.
Pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protests have become a daily occurrence on the city’s streets and campuses over the past month as anger over the war grows and fears of anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim prejudice escalate. More conflicts have erupted on campus on social media, sometimes between students angry about the administration’s response and among themselves.
The Midtown march closed sections of Fifth Avenue before protesters turned onto 34th Street, disrupting the evening commute. Participants waved Palestinian flags and chanted “Shut it down” and “Liberate Palestine” to the beat of drums as they walked under the Christmas lights already hung on the Macy’s facade.
“I think there’s a real need for solidarity right now,” Sam Cribben said as she marched with a group of friends down West 34th Street toward Eighth Avenue. “The Palestinian people don’t really have much use for their voices right now, and it’s up to us to use our voices because they are being silenced.”
Some high school students went out at lunchtime to gather in Bryant Park for a pro-Palestinian rally. Photo credit: Jeenah Moon for The New York Times
The day’s protest began as a student strike. Small groups of high school students left their buildings around noon and joined a rally that began at Bryant Park around 3 p.m. Further north at Columbia University, about 300 students gathered on the steps of Low Library to show their support for the Palestinian cause.
A group of pro-Israel protesters wore T-shirts that read “Bring Them Home,” a reference to the 240 hostages taken during the Hamas attack who are still in the Gaza Strip.
At some point during the campus protests, a student on the Low Steps shouted an anti-Jewish obscenity, causing an uproar among the students around him.
Tensions on college campuses have increased in recent weeks as debate over the Israel-Hamas war has divided student groups and upended campus life. Fadi Shuman, a Palestinian computer science student, said he was upset that Columbia was not doing more to address Islamophobia on campus.
“If we’re lucky, we’ll get a two-paragraph sentence in the emails,” said Mr. Shuman, 31. “They won’t use the word ‘Palestine.’ They won’t use the word ‘Gaza’ – it says a lot.”
The rally in Bryant Park expanded into a march through the streets but paused when the crowd reached the City University of New York campus on Fifth Avenue. Sandor John, an associate professor at CUNY, said he came to support the high school students and recalled protesting the Vietnam War during his high school years.
“I want to show solidarity with the high school students and other students who are working very courageously to defend the people of Gaza,” said Mr. John.
Protesters closed parts of 34th Street and marched past the Christmas lights that were already hanging on the Macy’s facade. Photo credit: Jeenah Moon for The New York Times
Luis Cruz, 19, who traveled to Bryant Park from Staten Island, said he was happy to see students in the crowd.
“I always think that the younger generation is mainly with the people who are oppressed and not with the oppressor,” he said.
As the protest moved up Eighth Avenue toward Times Square, it stopped at the doors of the New York Times — dozens broke off to protest in the lobby — before returning to Bryant Park.
In front of the building on West 40th Street, the back window of a patrol car was smashed and the words “IDF KKK” were daubed on the vehicle.
Troy Closson, Nate Schweber, Liset Cruz and Erin Nolan contributed reporting.
— Claire Fahy and Camille Baker