Jewish Groups Plan Protests, Risk Arrests Over Israel’s Actions in Gaza
A coalition of Jewish groups opposing Israel’s actions in Gaza is planning protests in cities across the country, including Brooklyn, where they plan to risk mass arrest by closing down the street where US Leader Chuck Schumer resides.
The protests, planned for the second night of Passover, come amid a spate of major demonstrations on college campuses over Israel’s war in Gaza. There have been a spate of major demonstrations on college campuses from California to Massachusetts over the past week. On many of the campuses, protesters have set up unauthorized encampments of tents to press their demands.
In Brooklyn on Tuesday, the protesters will hold a Passover Sedar, a ritual holiday meal and service, while urging Schumer, the highest elected Jewish American, to support an end to providing US weapons for Israel’s war in Gaza, organizers said in a statement.
“Hundreds will risk arrest while demanding Senator Schumer, who has recently spoken sharply against Netanyahu, take the next step and stop arming Israel,” the statement said, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Hundreds of students and others have been arrested at universities, while critics, including prominent Republican members of the US Congress, have stepped up accusations of antisemitism and harassment by at least some protesters.
The White House on Tuesday said it was monitoring the situation at college campuses closely, saying people have the right to publicly protest but not physical intimidation or calls for violence, citing some “alarming rhetoric.”
“When we see revolting, dangerous antisemitic comments, that is something that we’re going to speak out against, in very clear terms,” White House spokesman Andrew Bates told reporters aboard Air Force One as President Joe Biden traveled to Florida.
Bates said the US Department of Education has “an integral role to play” to address antisemitic protests.
At Columbia in New York City, the university canceled in-person classes on Monday in a bid to defuse tensions on campus and out of concern that Jewish students faced possible harassment. On Tuesday, the school said classes for the rest of the year were hybrid – with students able to attend either online or in person.
New York City police arrested more than 120 protesters on New York University’s campus late on Monday, a police spokesperson said. Police said university authorities reached out for help, and protesters failed to clear by the deadline given by the university.
