Pro-Palestinian protesters clash with police and damage monuments in New York during Met gala – vopbuzz
NEW DELHI: On Monday, more than 1,000 protesters defending Palestinian rights clashed with police and vandalized public monuments as they tried to reach the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Met the Gala was being held. The event coincided with the “Day of Rage” celebrated worldwide by the activist group Within Our Lifetime.
Demonstrators who were prevented from approaching the Met by police directed their protest to Central Park, where they defaced the One Hundred and Seventh Infantry Monument, the New York Post reported. The base of this World War I monument was spray-painted with the words: “Gaza” in large black letters. Protesters also burned an American flag at the site and placed stickers with messages reading “Stop Genocide” and Palestinian flags on statues. End apartheid. Free Palestine.”
As the night progressed, another monument in Central Park, the statue of General William Tecumseh Sherman, was similarly vandalized. “Free Gaza” was written in red letters on the base of the statue and a Palestinian flag was attached to the front.
Earlier in the evening, police arrested nearly two dozen protesters at Madison Ave and East 83rd Street as they marched from Hunter College toward the Met. Despite the heavy police presence, the crowd managed to block traffic along Fifth Avenue until they were stopped near the East 79th Street Transverse in Central Park. Carrying Palestinian flags and wearing keffiyeh, they chanted slogans: “Expose, liquidate, we will not stop, we will not rest.”
Confusion ensued as protesters initially directed to Central Park by police found themselves immobilized without clear instructions on how to proceed. After a while, they left the park and tried to approach the Met once again, but were stopped due to a police blockade.
Approximately 1,000 in a separate but related incident pro-Israel demonstrators They gathered in Riverside Park in support of Jewish students facing anti-Semitism at universities such as Columbia University. The rally was held on Yom HaShoah, the Holocaust remembrance day, and emphasized the need to combat antisemitism and remember past atrocities.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan spoke at the rally, comparing anti-Israel protests to the actions of “modern-day Nazis” and criticizing what he described as selective anger that ignores other global injustices. Erdan emphasized the urgency of taking action against antisemitism, especially in academic environments.
The day’s events highlighted the ongoing tensions and divisions surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, both domestically and internationally.
Demonstrators who were prevented from approaching the Met by police directed their protest to Central Park, where they defaced the One Hundred and Seventh Infantry Monument, the New York Post reported. The base of this World War I monument was spray-painted with the words: “Gaza” in large black letters. Protesters also burned an American flag at the site and placed stickers with messages reading “Stop Genocide” and Palestinian flags on statues. End apartheid. Free Palestine.”
As the night progressed, another monument in Central Park, the statue of General William Tecumseh Sherman, was similarly vandalized. “Free Gaza” was written in red letters on the base of the statue and a Palestinian flag was attached to the front.
Earlier in the evening, police arrested nearly two dozen protesters at Madison Ave and East 83rd Street as they marched from Hunter College toward the Met. Despite the heavy police presence, the crowd managed to block traffic along Fifth Avenue until they were stopped near the East 79th Street Transverse in Central Park. Carrying Palestinian flags and wearing keffiyeh, they chanted slogans: “Expose, liquidate, we will not stop, we will not rest.”
Confusion ensued as protesters initially directed to Central Park by police found themselves immobilized without clear instructions on how to proceed. After a while, they left the park and tried to approach the Met once again, but were stopped due to a police blockade.
Approximately 1,000 in a separate but related incident pro-Israel demonstrators They gathered in Riverside Park in support of Jewish students facing anti-Semitism at universities such as Columbia University. The rally was held on Yom HaShoah, the Holocaust remembrance day, and emphasized the need to combat antisemitism and remember past atrocities.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan spoke at the rally, comparing anti-Israel protests to the actions of “modern-day Nazis” and criticizing what he described as selective anger that ignores other global injustices. Erdan emphasized the urgency of taking action against antisemitism, especially in academic environments.
The day’s events highlighted the ongoing tensions and divisions surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, both domestically and internationally.
