As New York Senator Chuck Schumer prepared for a final vote to pass an aid package that would provide $26 billion to Israel and billions more to Ukraine and Taiwan, at least 100 protesters appeared to be He was arrested after a traffic blockade in his Brooklyn neighborhood. The second night of Passover calls for the United States to cease military support for Israel.
Although Democratic Majority Leader Schumer was in Washington, demonstrators rallied on Tuesday at Grand Army Plaza, a block from his Brooklyn home and a common site for protests since the start of Israel’s war with Hamas. At sunset, hundreds of people gathered around a circular banner representing a Passover plate that read “Jews say stop arming Israel” along with pictures of the food eaten during the Passover meal.
“This is not going to be the usual Seder. These are not normal times,” Morgan Basikis, a member of the progressive group Jewish Voices for Peace, told attendees.
After a series of speakers addressed the rally, much of the crowd spilled onto the street between the northern edge of Prospect Park and the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, blocking traffic and prompting drivers to honk their horns. Police officers who had been monitoring the incident warned demonstrators that if they did not take action, they would be arrested; while they remained in place, officers wearing zip-tie handcuffs came in and began making arrests. It was unclear how many people were arrested in the frenzied attack before the crowd dispersed. But it appeared that at least 100 protesters, some wearing reflective vests and black T-shirts emblazoned with “Jewish Ceasefire Now,” were taken away in pairs.
The protest, organized by pro-Palestinian Jewish groups, marked a very different Passover celebration for Jews in New York City and beyond. University campus The knock-on effects of Israel’s war with Hamas are also being felt at family dinner tables.
Stephanie Fox, executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace, said the protest was held during Passover to send a message to Senator Schumer Towards the final vote Aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. About $9 billion of the $95 billion package is earmarked for “global humanitarian assistance,” including aid to civilians in Gaza. (package later Passed by 79 votes to 18.)
“Everything in our tradition compels us to do whatever it takes to stop these historic atrocities being committed in our name and with our tax dollars,” Ms. Fox said in an interview on Monday.
Mr. Schumer, the nation’s highest-ranking Jewish elected official, recently called for Election to replace Benjamin NetanyahuAfter the war, Israeli Prime Minister.his Last month’s condemnation of Jewish state leaders In a speech, he also spoke of his love for the state of Israel and his fear of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, analysts said, exposing a growing gap between Israel and its most important ally, the United States.
“Senator Schumer recently made very harsh remarks about Prime Minister Netanyahu on the Senate floor,” Jewish Voice for Peace political director Beth Miller said during Tuesday’s protest. “The fact that he’s doing this while also rewarding Prime Minister Netanyahu by pushing this military funding package shows that he’s not serious about actually changing U.S. policy to drive change.”
One attendee, 29-year-old Calvin Harrison, a community organizer who lives in Manhattan, said he came to Grand Army Plaza “because I’m Jewish and I grew up believing Judaism is about justice.”
“Passover is a celebration of future liberation,” he continued. “We cannot celebrate our liberation while we oppress Palestinians.”
