Hundreds of people, including anti-Israel, anti-Zionist protesters, gathered outside 770 Eastern Parkway, the world headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y., on Thursday night to demonstrate the presence of Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, who was attending a Jewish celebration there.
The New York City Police Department told JNS that it responded to an unscheduled demonstration at around 9:30 p.m., which lasted for about two hours.
“In total, six individuals were taken into custody,” the NYPD said. “Five of the individuals were issued criminal court summonses, and one was arrested.”
Oscar Vidal, 28, from Bayonne, N.J., was arrested and charged with second-degree assault, third-degree assault and criminal mischief, according to the NYPD.
The protest was organized by the self-described anti-Zionist group Within Our Lifetime (WOL).
Rabbi Yaacov Behrman, a community leader in Crown Heights, condemned the protests in a statement on Thursday.
“What happened tonight in Crown Heights was outrageous and deeply disturbing,” he stated. “A group of antisemitic protesters gathered at the intersection of Eastern Parkway and Kingston Avenue—the very heart of this heavily populated Jewish neighborhood—spewing hateful, inflammatory rhetoric at innocent passersby, myself included.”
The anti-Israel protesters shouted, “We don’t want Zionists here” and “Resistance is justified,” according to Behrman.
“How dare you come into my neighborhood, where I’ve lived for over 40 years, and tell me I don’t belong?” he asked rhetorically. “I absolutely belong here. My family, my neighbors and my community belong here.”
Behrman said the protest used Ben-Gvir, who was attending a siyum—the completion of a cycle of Torah study—as a pretext to target Jews.
“Let’s be clear: This was not about free speech or a peaceful demonstration,” he stated. “This was an antisemitic, Hamas-supporting rally. It was meant to intimidate, to provoke and to spread fear.”
‘It’s a sacred space’
Nerdeen Kiswani, founder of WOL, said in a statement on Thursday that the Palestinian protesters in Brooklyn gathered to “demand baby-killer Itamar Ben-Gvir get the hell out of NYC.”
“Palestinian protesters in Brooklyn are being attacked by racist Zionist Lubavitchers while NYPD and Shomrim stand by and do nothing,” she stated. “Protesters are bleeding, chased, blocked from leaving 770 Eastern Parkway—eggs thrown, people beaten in plain view.”
“This is a pogrom,” she added, using the term that refers to an organized massacre against Jewish people in Russia and Eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Sholom, 23 (he did not share his last name), who lives in Crown Heights, told JNS that the NYPD did not do a sufficient job protecting Jewish residents.
“I think the real error was that the police had no right to let them protest right in front of a house of worship,” he said. “It’s illegal to go in front of houses of worship and protest. It’s a sacred space. Whether it’s a synagogue, mosque or church, it is against the laws of America.”
Even though Ben-Gvir is known to be a controversial politician, the Crown Heights resident said that targeting him is antisemitic.
“It’s not possible when you’re holding flags of Hamas, which are flags that went in and killed every Jewish person they were able to find, whether they’re religious or not, and then say, ‘I’m anti-Zionist and not anti-Jewish people,’” he said. “Zionism is Judaism. Judaism is Zionism. Ben-Gvir is a part of the Jewish nation and stands for the Jewish nation. There is no separation.”
‘Unacceptable’
NYC mayor Eric Adams said in a statement Sunday that the NYPD is investigating a “series of incidents stemming from clashing protests on Thursday that began when a group of anti-Israel protesters surrounded the Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters—a Jewish house of worship—in Brooklyn.”
“Initial reports indicate that one female protester was isolated from her group, harassed by counter-protesters, and suffered injuries,” he stated. “In another incident, a second woman was surrounded and subjected to vile threatening by counter-protesters.”
While arrests were made at the protest, the police are working to identify additional individuals, according to Adams.
“Let me be clear: none of this is acceptable, in fact, it is despicable,” he stated. “New York City will always be a place where people can peacefully protest, but we will not tolerate violence, trespassing, menacing, or threatening.”
“Hate has no place in our city, and those responsible will be held accountable,” he added.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) called for a federal investigation into the organization that orchestrated the protest, according to a statement issued Friday.
“The heinous violence last night outside the Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters in Brooklyn is horrifying and unacceptable,” she stated. “Pro-terrorist antisemitic anarchists violently targeted one of the holiest Jewish sites in America, shouting vile antisemitic death chants and attacking Jews as they gathered in peace.”
The protest is part of a troubling rise in Jew-hatred across the United States, according to Stefanik.
“I have been warning about these extremist, anti-American groups for years—they have no morals, no respect for civil discourse, and they resort to dangerous violence when confronted with truth,” she said. “We must act now.”
“Jewish Americans must never feel unsafe in their own communities,” she added. “There is no place in our country for hate-fueled violence against the Jewish people.”