{"id":367373,"date":"2026-10-08T00:20:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T00:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/367373\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T00:20:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T00:20:14","slug":"pro-palestinian-protesters-throw-nyc-vigil-for-victims-oct-7-hamas-attack-into-chaos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/367373\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro-Palestinian protesters throw NYC vigil for victims Oct. 7 Hamas attack into chaos"},"content":{"rendered":"

A vigil at Manhattan\u2019s Union Square to remember the 1,200 Jews killed during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel three years ago was thrown into chaos Wednesday when more than 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators swarmed the plaza<\/a> and squared off with mourners, officials said.<\/p>\n

Waving Palestinian flags and screaming \u201cNormalize the intifada!\u201d and \u201cThere is only one solution\u2026 Revolution!\u201d protesters began taking over the seats that were set aside for attendees at the 7 p.m. vigil.<\/p>\n

There were only about 50 attendees at the vigil when the protesters arrived. Although the vigil\u2019s program was briefly sidelined, pro-Israeli mourners lit candles, held signs reading \u201cNot one more life\u201d as they faced off against Palestinian protesters and tried their best to read texts and emails from survivors and relatives of victims of the Hamas attack.<\/p>\n

Comptroller Brad Lander was already in attendance at the vigil and was cursed out by the protesters as he stood with pro-Israeli mourners.<\/p>\n

\"NewNew York City Comptroller Brad Lander attends a prayer vigil \u2014 in which pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel protesters faced-off \u2014 in Manhattan’s Union Square on Oct. 7, 2026, on the third anniversary of Hamas’ October 7th attack in Israel. (Barry Williams \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Vigil organizers were at times drowned out by pro-Palestinian demonstrators.<\/p>\n

Mayor Mandani, who was scheduled to attend but not speak, showed up with Public Advocate Jumaane Williams about an hour after the program started \u2014 only to be jeered by the pro-Palestinian demonstrators.<\/p>\n

\u201cZoran, you can\u2019t hide! We charge you with genocide!\u201d Palestinian demonstrators screamed over and over.<\/p>\n

\"NewNew York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (center) and Comptroller Brad Lander (far left) attend a prayer vigil \u2014 in which pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel protesters faced-off \u2014 in Manhattan’s Union Square on Oct. 7, 2026, on the third anniversary of Hamas’ October 7th attack in Israel. (Barry Williams \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Mamdani faces equal criticism from Jewish and Palestinian New Yorkers, who each feel the Mayor isn\u2019t supporting their needs.<\/p>\n

He has faced intense criticism from prominent Jewish groups, who have said his rhetoric about Israel fuels growing antisemitism.<\/a> Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has leveled sharp attacks against Mamdani,<\/a> particularly over the mayor\u2019s assertion that the government\u2019s actions in Gaza constitute a genocide.<\/p>\n

Some critics on the left have also claimed the mayor has betrayed the pro-Palestine cause by allowing a \u201cbuffer zone\u201d bill targeting areas around houses of worship to become law and by forming a \u201cStrategy to Combat Antisemitism\u201d report.<\/p>\n

\"Pro-PalestinianPro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel protesters face off in Manhattan’s Union Square on Oct. 7, 2026, during a vigil to mark the third anniversary of Hamas’ October 7th attack in Israel. (Barry Williams \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

New waves of criticism came crashing down on Mamdani Wednesday when he\u00a0called the anniversary of the Oct. 7 terror attacks in Israel<\/a> a \u201cprofoundly painful\u201d day for many New Yorkers while also criticizing Israel for carrying out what he called a \u201cgenocide\u201d in Gaza.<\/p>\n

NYPD officers managed to corral the Palestinian protesters to the southern end of the plaza. No violence occurred and no arrests were immediately made.<\/p>\n

\"Pro-PalestinianPro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel protesters face off in Manhattan’s Union Square on Oct. 7, 2026, during a vigil to mark the third anniversary of Hamas’ October 7th attack in Israel. (Barry Williams \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

The pro-Palestinian protesters marched up from City Hall, where they spent the afternoon rallying in support of Palestine \u2014 and against the mayor.<\/p>\n

\u201cMayor Mamdani, you can\u2019t hide we charge you with genocide,\u201d the group chanted, some hoisting anti-Mamdani signs.<\/p>\n

\"PeoplePeople attend a prayer vigil \u2014 in which pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel protesters faced-off \u2014 in Manhattan’s Union Square on Oct. 7, 2026, on the third anniversary of Hamas’ October 7th attack in Israel. (Barry Williams \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Organizers said memorials of those who died and testimonials of those who survived were going to be read aloud at the vigil.<\/p>\n

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"PeoplePeople attend a prayer vigil \u2014 in which pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel protesters faced-off \u2014 in Manhattan’s Union Square on Oct. 7, 2026, on the third anniversary of Hamas’ October 7th attack in Israel. (Barry Williams \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A vigil at Manhattan\u2019s Union Square to remember the 1,200 Jews killed during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[262,263,266,85,267,9,24,264,12,56,63,261,65,64,265],"class_list":["post-367373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-city","tag-county","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-county","tag-news","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-crime","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-sub-county-region"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367373","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=367373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}