Pro-Palestinian demonstrators obstructed the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Some of them attached themselves to the asphalt alongside the parade route, while others chanted and sang “Palestine will be free.”
Protesters in midtown Manhattan staged a demonstration along the parade route, holding a banner that said, “Freedom for Palestine and the Planet.” They backed the Palestinians in Gaza and demanded the discontinuation of fossil fuel consumption.
In an attempt to sabotage the procession, the demonstrators, dressed in white jumpsuits, sprayed themselves with crimson liquid and adhered their hands to the pavement. Boos were coming from the people lined up on the walkway, drowning out the chanting.
In order to allow the march to go, NYPD officers were observed removing the protesters from the roadway and transporting them away from the area.
Protesters carrying pro-Palestinian placards and waving Palestinian flags were shouting a range of songs along the procession route, including “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
A cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas conflict was demanded by some, while others screamed, “There is only one approach to intifada change.”
A Palestinian flag was whipped out by a protester atop a Native American barge during the parade’s television coverage.
As the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe float, also called the People of the First Light, approached Macy’s flagship shop on 34th St. in midtown Manhattan, a guy unfolded a little Palestinian flag and raised it above his head.
During that segment of NBC’s parade broadcast, Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb introduced the floats, saying that the “float symbolizes the optimism of the future influenced by the understanding of our shared history.”
Pro-Palestinian Demonstrators
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations have erupted in a number of American cities and on the campuses of colleges in recent weeks, with many of them calling for an end to hostilities between Israel and Hamas.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered last week in the vicinity of Penn Station, obstructing traffic to and from the city’s main rail hub. During rush hour, pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Boston and San Francisco also momentarily stopped traffic on bridges.
As the group sprayed the slogan “Free Palestine” on the building’s front pillars, police arrived to confront them.
On the base of the building, they also sprayed and painted what seemed to be bloody handprints.
In response, the library released a statement on Thursday night stating that while it “strongly supports” the freedom to demonstrate, it is now experiencing severe financial cuts and will have to pay a high cost to have the vandalism repaired.
The goal of the New York Public Library is to give everyone unfettered access to knowledge. We firmly believe that protesting is a right. Regretfully, today’s protesters damaged the library’s flagship Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, which is meant to be a place for free thought and discussion.
The city’s libraries are now experiencing severe budget cuts that have made it impossible for us to continue providing the existing level of service, and the expense of repairing this vandalism will be high. According to the statement, we do not foresee any unscheduled closures as a result of this, and we are still committed to offering the resources that we are aware so many people depend on.
Police claim that forty-four people were taken into custody as pro-Palestinian demonstrations disrupted Thursday morning’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Of the demonstrators, thirty received trespassing summonses, and four faced criminal charges for resisting arrest, disrupting government administration, trespassing, and engaging in disorderly conduct.
A few of the about thirty demonstrators were blocking Sixth Avenue when some of them leaped the barricades, raced into the street, and seemingly adhered themselves to the avenue.
They were decked up in white jumpsuits with fake blood all over them and labels reading “colonialism” and “consumerism.”
Also Read: Joe Biden is Losing Support from Younger People for a Major Reason: Palestine and Israel
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