Hundreds of protesters have filled the main concourse of New York City’s famed Grand Central Terminal to demand a cease-fire as Israel intensifies its bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
Wearing black T-shirts saying “Jews say cease-fire now” and “Not in our name,” at least 200 of the demonstrators were detained by New York Police Department officers and led out of the train station, their hands zip-tied behind their backs.
The NYPD said the protesters were taken briefly into custody, issued summonses and released, and that a more exact number of detentions would be available Saturday morning.
“Hundreds of Jews and friends are taking over Grand Central Station in a historic sit-in calling for a ceasefire,” advocacy group Jewish Voice for Peace said on social media.
Israel stepped up airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Friday, knocking out internet and largely cutting off communication with the 2.3 million people inside the besieged Palestinian enclave.
The Israeli military’s announcement it was “expanding” ground operations in the territory signaled it was moving closer to an all-out invasion of Gaza, where it has vowed to crush the ruling Hamas militant group after its bloody incursion in southern Israel three weeks ago.
The U.N. General Assembly approved a nonbinding resolution calling for a “humanitarian truce” in Gaza leading to a cessation of hostilities.
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The only party ignoring and abandoning the hostages and foreign nationals stuck in Gaza (whom you conveniently do not mention) is Israel.
Hamas would definitely be willing to give back hostages in exchange for concessions. And they also were willing to let foreign nationals leave, but Israel blocked the border, leading to the death of at least one of my countrywomen.
But Israel is blinded by rage and opporunism, so it prioritizes stealing land in the West Bank above freeing hostages.
I don't see anyone holding up signs celebrating those hostages. Hostages who Israel also refused to take back. And it's funny how nobody is talking about thousands of Palestinians who have been taken and jailed by Israel on bullshit charges.
Nobody is celebrating the hostages. It's just an emotional abuse card people pull up when Israel's genocidal tactics get pointed out. And then we suddenly feel bad for hostages. Thousands of dispalced, kidnapped and killed people on Palestinian side don't get the same treatment.
I don’t see anyone holding up signs celebrating those hostages.
Just before Israel's response, people were cheering for Hamas and the killing of hostages they took during the raids. That's not an opinion, by the way, it's a sad fact. Situation in Gaza is complicated.
I support protesting, but I really don't understand how these people in other countries expect that their protest is going to sway the Israeli government or Hamas. The war would go on even if we didn't aid Israel.
The US is still, to some extent, a democracy. The US also has major influence over what israel does. Protests show that a non-trivial fraction of the population does not support our current stance. It may not change anything yet, but it's a necessary step.
after the West pulled the plug out of South-Africa and Rhodesia, those regimes imploded.
This. I don't think most people realize/remember just how supportive governments in countries like the US and UK were towards Apartheid South Africa before the people made it clear we don't want to support that stuff.
How much monetary support does Israel receive compared to how much does it earn from exports?
I'm looking up their industries and Israel is into diamond cutting, which carries its own ethical issues
You are delusional if you think all of this hasn’t increased Israeli support. Hell being anti-Isreal just makes you look pro-terrorist at this point. Isreal isn’t going anywhere, they would wipe Palestine off the map before they would even contemplate leaving.