Hundreds of people were arrested Friday after police broke up a big rally of primarily Jewish New Yorkers who had taken over Grand Central Station’s main hall in protest of Israel’s attack of Gaza, according to police and organizers.
The New York Police Department reported at least 200 arrests, while protest organizers claimed more than 300.
Long lines of young people stood in handcuffs, wearing black sweatshirts with the inscriptions “Not In Our Name” and “Cease Fire Now” emblazoned in white.
The enormous sit-in was organized by the Jewish Voice for Peace-New York City group, which claimed that hundreds of its supporters took part in the protest, which blocked the main concourse of the city’s major rail station.
Images showed the station crowded with demonstrators holding placards stating “Palestinians should be free” and “Mourn the dead, fight like hell for the living.”
The nonviolent sit-in was described by organizers as “the largest civil disobedience New York City has seen in 20 years.”
The gathering was kicked off by rabbis lighting Shabbat lamps and performing the Jewish prayer for the dead, known as the kaddish.
“While Shabbat is typically a day of rest, we cannot afford to rest while genocide is unfolding in our names,” said Rabbi May Ye, in a statement released by organizers.
“The lives of Palestinians and Israelis are intertwined, and safety can only come from justice, equality, and freedom for all,” the rabbi said.
According to Israeli sources, Israel commenced its bombardment of Gaza after Hamas terrorists burst across the border on October 7, murdering 1,400 Palestinians, largely civilians, and capturing over 220 more.
According to the Hamas-run health ministry, Israeli strikes on Gaza have already killed 7,326 Palestinians, including almost 3,000 children.
