Anti-Israel demonstrators were arrested on Monday night during a protest outside a Brooklyn synagogue hosting an Israeli real estate event, according to the New York City Police Department.
The demonstration took place near Young Israel of Midwood on Ocean Avenue. NYPD told JNS that multiple arrests were made after clashes between protesters and pro-Israel counterprotesters. Police said those taken into custody had thrown objects during the confrontation.
The protest was organized by PAL-AWDA, the same group behind a demonstration last week outside Manhattan’s Park East Synagogue that left one police officer injured and hospitalized.
PAL-Awda said it was protesting “The Great Israeli Real Estate Event,” which featured properties in Israel and Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. Organizers of the protest accused the event of promoting the sale of “stolen Palestinian land.”
“We’re here to say that events that are in direct violation of international law, New York civil rights law, federal anti-discrimination law will not be allowed in our neighborhoods,” a spokesperson for the group said during the protest.
In a joint statement released before the protest, New York City Councilmember Inna Vernikov and New York State Assemblyman Kalman Yeger stated that “NYPD has assured us the protesters will be required to remain across the street, and that sufficient officers will be on hand to keep our constituents safe and to ensure safe passage.”
“Our staff are currently on site and confirm there are barricades set up and several hundred police officers present,” they wrote, accompanied by photos of NYPD setting up barricades.
Moshe Spern, president of United Jewish Teachers, stated that protesters “burned Israeli flags, chanted ‘Jews go back to Germany’ and sparked near-fights,” noting that these demonstrations are “not ‘peaceful’ like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani claims.”
“This is antisemitism in NYC streets, not protected protest,” Spern wrote. “Jewish New Yorkers can’t walk in their community safely. Enough. Where’s the real accountability?”
