More than 40 people protesting the war and worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza were arrested outside the Trump International hotel in New York City on Monday evening.
The protest, organized by IfNotNow, a Jewish-American anti-occupation group, had begun earlier in the evening at Columbus Circle. Hundreds gathered under the banner “Trump: Jews Say No More” to demand an end to the war in Gaza and that the Trump administration pressure Israel to allow greater humanitarian aid to enter into territory, as health officials there continue to report deaths from starvation and malnutrition.
“Let’s not mince words, the Israeli government’s blockade of Gaza is a policy of ethnic cleansing by way of forced mass starvation,” said Morriah Kaplan, IfNotNow’s interim executive director, during her speech to the crowd. “It is an unbearable, unspeakable, unfathomable affront to our shared humanity and those who are carrying it out and are deploying our Jewish symbols, language and traditions to defend and justify it, which is why I’m heartened to see such a range of Jews and Jewish organizations coming together today to say with one voice that we oppose these atrocities, not in spite of our Judaism, but for many of us, because of it.”
“We need the US government to use its considerable leverage to end these horrors,” she added.
Protesters held signs that read “stop ethnic cleansing”, “never again is now” “stop starving Gaza” and “not in our name” and speakers included Ruth Messinger, Rabbi Jill Jacobs, the T’ruah CEO, and Brad Lander, the New York City comptroller.
“Yesterday was the Jewish holiday of Tisha B’Av in which Jews mourn the destruction of the people of Israel,” Lander said, “and what we’re witnessing right now is destruction caused by the State of Israel.”
“Its been going on for many months,” he added. “But to witness forced mass starvation, emaciated children and starving of families, on top of all the bombing and destruction and displacement, it is necessary for Jews to cry out louder, to do more organizing to make sure that we stop sending offensive weapons and bombs and guns that we demand an end to what Israel is doing in Gaza. That’s why we’re here tonight.”
Also in attendance was Lily Greenberg Call, a former special assistant to the chief of staff at the US Department of the Interior under the Biden-Harris administration who publicly resigned in protest in May 2024 over the administration’s handling of the war in Gaza.
“I was the first, and unfortunately the only official Jewish official to publicly resign in protest of the administration’s unconditional support for Israel during the war in Gaza,” Greenberg Call said in an interview with Guardian.
Greenberg Call said that she was noticing new people among the crowd protesting Israel’s war in Gaza.
“There is something shifting,” she said. “Showing up is really important, and our role as Americans especially – our government and our tax dollars are funding this.”
“We have an obligation, specifically as American Jews, to stand up against what’s happening in our name,” Greenberg Call added.
Palestinian photojournalist, Motaz Azaiza, was also in the crowd and delivered brief remarks.
Just after 8pm, the group began walking to the Trump International hotel. They gathered in front of the hotel, sitting in the street, singing and chanting.
Around 8.15pm ET, New York police department officers began arresting protesters for blocking the street. It was unclear as of 9pm ET how many people were arrested but the Guardian counted at least more than 40 people. Those arrested were loaded on to police vans and the crowd dispersed shortly after.
In a press release issued after the arrests occurred, IfNotNow said that this mobilization marked “the broadest tent coalition in the Jewish community against the atrocities in Gaza in the last two years, representing the vast majority of US Jews who are outraged by the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza”.
