Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested after blocking off traffic to three major New York City bridges and a tunnel.
The demonstration sealed off entrances to the Holland Tunnel and the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges, with protesters wielding banners that read “ceasefire now” and “end the occupation.”
More than 300 people were arrested, according to a spokesperson for the New York Police Department, who said the locations were blocked for about an hour and a half on Monday.
Several groups took part in the demonstration, including the Palestinian Youth Movement, Jewish Voice for Peace, and the Democratic Socialists of America.
One protester, Rachel Himes, told The New York Times the point of blocking off these major thoroughfares was to remind people of the struggles of people in Gaza.
Protestors block Brooklyn Bridge during a pro-Palestinian demonstration demanding a cease-fire in the Israel-Palestinian conflict on Monday, 8 January 2024, in New York— (AP)
“In Gaza, of course, people have limited mobility, no freedom of movement, they cannot leave, even if they want to, they move place to place, then those places are bombed,” Ms Himes said. “We wanted to create that condition temporarily in Manhattan.”
Another individual who took part in the demonstration, Mon Mohapatra, echoed this sentiment. “We are trying to show how it feels to be trapped in a city you can’t leave,” Ms Mohapatra told the Times.
Since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October, which killed about 1,200 people, Israel has waged a brutal military offensive, killing about 23,000 Palestinians. Nearly 85 per cent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced from their homes, and a quarter of the population is starving, according to the United Nations.
At a press conference Monday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams acknowledged “the pain of innocent lives being lost right now,” but criticized the protesters’ approach.
“The right to protest does not give one the right to block bridges and tunnels, as we saw this morning,” Adams said. “The goal is to peacefully protest without doing major disruption to the city.”
