Terrorist organization flags and symbols flew in New York City on Monday as dozens of anti-Israel organizations took to the streets to protest ongoing Israeli military action against Hamas and the reaction by authorities and officials to pro-Palestinian demonstrations since the October 7 Massacre.
A banner featuring the flags of Hamas’s Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades was waved in videos published by the Bronx Anti-War Coalition, and in other videos posted by principal protest organizer Within Our Lifetime another banner placed the Hezbollah flag alongside those of Middle Eastern states.
Let’s see how many terrorist flags and symbols we can spot at the protests in New York City on Monday. pic.twitter.com/Nfa57lhlF6
— Michael Starr (@StarrJpost) September 3, 2024
Singular Hamas and Hezbollah flags could also be seen among the thousands of marchers, who changed slogans and wielded signs accusing the US government of aiding and abetting a supposed Israeli genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
“From the water to the water, Palestine is Arab,” protesters chanted during the march (Commonly the phrase is “from the river to the sea.”).
Some protesters wore Hamas headbands and one man waved a banner emblazoned with the images of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and PFLP general secretary Ahmad Sa’adat. The logo on the banner belonged to the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, a PFLP-tied NGO.
Bronx Anti-War coalition claimed on Instagram that they had turned their censored pro-terrorism social media posts into stickers for the march. One of the stickers featured Hamas Al-Qassam spokesman Abu Obaida.
"If you stand with Palestinians, you stand with Palestinian resistance" - Nerdeen Kiswani
“Calling for a ceasefire is not enough. Calling for an arms embargo is not enough,” WOL leader Nerdeen Kiswani said in a speech while flanked by terrorist flags. The people standing with Palestine right now are resisting alongside us, from Yemen to Lebanon and beyond. If you stand with Palestinians, you stand with Palestinian resistance.”
Kiswani lambasted the New York Police Department, accusing them of working with Israel to attack and suppress the pro-Palestinian protests. The Labor Day protests, which were endorsed by dozens of anti-Israel organizations, were in part organized to complain about the NYPD’s response to the post-October 7 demonstrations. WOL and co-organizer Healthcare Workers (HCW) for Palestine said that police used aggressive and militarized tactics.
On Sunday, WOL said on X that they were also “flooding” New York City to take “a stand against repression of Palestine” by Western media and technology companies.
WOL alleged that news outlets focused more on Israeli deaths than Palestinian deaths throughout the war, using passive voice to not attribute actions to Israel while not using terms such as “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” to describe the IDF’s operations. They also claimed that Western media misled the American public by presenting Hamas rather than Israel in the way of ceasefire deals and vilified anti-Israel protests by using selective sound bites and quotes.
“American media exploits Islamophobic and racist tropes to imbue anti-Palestinian bias in the average American reader,” claimed WOL and HCW for Palestine.
The anti-Israel groups also attacked Google and Amazon for contracts with the Israeli government that they claimed aided Israel in carrying out a supposed genocide, and criticized Meta for censoring anti-Israel activists like Kiswani by suspending their accounts.