Gaza war anniv.: Several arrested as New York protesters call for Gaza ceasefire

Thousands of pro-Palestine protesters have marched in New York as they called for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, on the first anniversary of the Israeli war that has devastated the blockaded territory and killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians.

Six individuals were taken into custody as clashes erupted between protesters and police outside the New York Public Library and in Times Square on Monday, according to reports from the New York Post.

On the anniversary of the October 7 al-Aqsa Flood and the ensuing genocidal war in Gaza, thousands of American pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through the streets of Manhattan and other cities across the US calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, which led to clashes with police.

The march came as people gathered at New York’s Central Park, led by the group Within Our Lifetime, which called on people to “flood New York City for Palestine.”

Protesters waving the Palestinian flag and wearing Kaffiyes chanted anti-Israel slogans “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” “Biden, you’re a liar” and “Cease-fire now.” They also had signs written “Israel is starving Palestinian children.”

“This is ultimately part of American imperialism. America is Israel’s colonial guarantor. [The war’s] expansion into Lebanon is just another phase in its imperialism,” said Gamal Amin, one of the protesters marching against US support for the war and Israel’s military operations.

Moreover, some of the protesters highlighted the problems of people affected by Hurricane Helene in their demands for a halt to funding for Israel, questioning, who should take priority? The residents of North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, and New York, or these war criminals?

Earlier in the day, hundreds of pro-Palestinian students, many wearing keffiyehs, staged a walkout at Columbia University to protest the war in Gaza after heeding a call by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).

The demonstrators also read the names of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since October 7, 2023.

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Meanwhile, protesters rallied in Washington, DC, and Los Angeles and across the US to denounce Joe Biden administration’s complicity in Israel’s war on Gaza, as well as military assaults in the occupied West Bank and Lebanon.

Demonstrations were also organized at university campuses across the country where Gaza solidarity encampments were met with a harsh crackdown earlier this year.

Since the onset of the war, the US has provide Israel with $17.9bn in military aid alone, according to a report published by Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs.

The report also noted that the US has spent an additional $4.86bn funding pro-Israel operations in the region, including in Yemen, since the eruption of the war. In inflation-adjusted dollars, this marks the highest amount of military aid to the regime.

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