{"id":367293,"date":"2026-10-07T22:48:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T22:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/367293\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T22:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T22:48:13","slug":"anti-israel-protests-break-out-in-nyc-on-oct-7-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/367293\/","title":{"rendered":"Anti-Israel protests break out in NYC on Oct. 7 anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anti-Israel protesters turned out by the hundreds across New York City during the third anniversary of Hamas\u2019 Oct. 7 attack Wednesday<\/a> \u2014 with students at NYU and Columbia University calling to \u201ckeep the intifada alive\u201d and proclaiming \u201cresistance is justified.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 100 people gathered at Washington Square Park for the latest demonstration of the New York University Students for Justice in Palestine\u2019s \u201cRage Week\u201d<\/a> aimed at condemning the Israel-Gaza war.<\/p>\n

The demonstrators \u2014 wearing keffiyehs and holding banners calling for NYU to \u201cdivest\u201d and shutter its Tel Aviv campus \u2014 were heard chanting, \u201cLong live the intifada\u201d and \u201cFrom the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,\u201d a common rally cry implying the erasure of the Jewish state.<\/a><\/p>\n

Anti-Israel protesters marching outside of City Hall in Manhattan on Oct. 7, 2026. James Keivom for NY Post<\/p>\n

A woman wearing a \u201cF\u2014k Israel\u201d sign on her forehead at the march on the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 terror attacks in the Jewish State. James Keivom for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cGlory to the martyrs and victory to the resistance. Intifada intifada!\u201d one member of SJP shouted, calling for the crowd to \u201ckeep the intifada alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andrew Ross, a professor at NYU\u2019s American Studies program and part of Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine, justified Hamas\u2019 bloody invasion<\/a> on Oct. 7, 2023, as a military tactic whose primary purpose was to acquire hostages to free Palestinians held in Israeli jails.<\/p>\n

While Ross called the day \u201cvery tragic,\u201d he went on to spread a conspiracy theory that the Israel Defense Forces killed some of its own citizens during the massacre \u2014 in which nearly 1,200 people, including more than 800 civilians, were slaughtered, with many victims also suffering torture and rape at the hands of Hamas fighters.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn Oct. 7, a mass Hannibal Directive was issued, and for the first time, it applied to civilians, Israeli civilians, and as a result, an untold number of them died at the hands of being targeted by IDF forces in vehicles that were being taken back to Gaza,\u201d Ross claimed as he addressed the crowd.<\/p>\n

An anti-Israel protester making a triangle with her hand in reference to an antisemitic symbol used to glorify violence against Israelis. Michael Nigro for NY Post<\/p>\n

A counter-protester getting flipped off by an anti-Israel protester near City Hall. James Keivom for NY Post<\/p>\n

A woman marching with a sign accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. James Keivom for NY Post<\/p>\n

A City Hall protester holding a sign calling of Mayor Zohran Mamdani \u2014 despite the mayor\u2019s vocal anti-Israel views. Michael Nigro for NY Post<\/p>\n

The Hannibal Directive is\u00a0a controversial procedure used by the IDF to prevent the capture of Israeli soldiers by enemy forces at all costs, but its authors have repeatedly stated that it in no way allows for soldiers or civilians to be killed. <\/p>\n

Ross also blamed Israel for the length of the war and accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu <\/a>of rejecting peace deals for the purpose of destroying the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n

NYU senior Ariella Cojab, 21, interrupted Ross to point out the war crimes committed by Hamas that day<\/a>, which were documented by members of the terror group themselves on the stolen phones of their victims.<\/p>\n

NYU Prof. Andrew Ross speaks in front of students at Washington Square Park, blaming Israel for the war in Gaza and accusing the IDF of killing civilians on Oct. 7, 2023. Robert Miller for NY Post<\/p>\n

Students at New York University stage a walkout and are joined by Pro-Palestinian activists during the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel. Michael Nigro for NY Post<\/p>\n

Around 100 people gathered at Washington Square Park to take part in the protest, hosted by the NYU Students for Justice in Palestine. Robert Miller for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cThat, to me, is not resistance. That\u2019s a war crime,\u201d Cojab said. \u201cRape is not resistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with the demonstration at NYU, dozens also gathered uptown at Columbia University with similar anti-Israel chants, including, \u201cFrom water to water, Palestine will be Arab.\u201d<\/p>\n

The students also echoed chants defending Hamas\u2019 actions on Oct. 7, yelling \u201cResistance is justified when people are occupied!\u201d <\/p>\n

The students demanded NYU divest from Israel and shut down its campus in Tel Aviv. Robert Miller for NY Post<\/p>\n

Students at New York University accused their school of supporting genocide in Gaza. Michael Nigro for NY Post<\/p>\n

A demonstrator marched with a sign that reads, \u201cNYU Your Hands Are Stained.\u201d Robert Miller for NY Post<\/p>\n

The Ivy League university was notably the site of the months-long encampment protest<\/a> that took over the Manhattan campus and spread to other colleges across the nation in 2024.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, about 125 protesters also gathered outside City Hall to criticize Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s alleged \u201cbetrayal\u201d of Palestinian causes since taking office, with many of the demonstrators wearing keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The crowd chanted, \u201cMayor Mamdani take a side, justice for Palestine,\u201d with one protester holding up a picture of the mayor rolling out the red carpet for Netanyahu in response to the prime ministers visit to New York last month. <\/p>\n

Columbia University students walk out of class and join a rally on Wednesday. Jonathan Fernandes\/FNTV<\/p>\n

Rabbi Yitzchok Deutsch, of the Jews United Again Zionism group, claimed the protest was scheduled for Oct. 7 because the anniversary was allegedly being used by Zionist to justify the ongoing war in Gaza.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are using our religion to justify all these crimes on the Palestinian people,\u201d Deutsch said. \u201cIt\u2019s the movement of Zionism which caused and still causing all these rivers of bloodshed on both sides, Jews and Palestinians.\u201d<\/p>\n

John King, of UAW Labor for Palestine\u00a0\u2014 a nationwide group of rank-and-file United Auto Workers union members advocating for Gaza \u2014 was among those calling for Mamdani to ensure New York City divests from Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther communities are divesting and that\u2019s what we\u2019re hoping Mamdani will listen to and then act.\u201d<\/p>\n

NYU did not immediately respond to The Post\u2019s request for comment about Ross\u2019 statements.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Additional reporting by Steven Vago<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anti-Israel protesters turned out by the hundreds across New York City during the third anniversary of Hamas\u2019 Oct.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367294,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[19817,662,60,61,57,9,11,10,22460,4648,58,82],"class_list":["post-367293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-columbia-university","tag-gaza-strip","tag-israel","tag-israel-hamas-war","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-nyu","tag-protests","tag-us-news","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}