Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested outside the New York Stock Exchange in a demonstration against Israel’s war in Gaza. Around 200 demonstrators gathered for a sit-in outside the stock exchange building in lower Manhattan on Monday, with police confirming the arrests. The protesters were heard chanting slogans such as “Let Gaza live!” and ”Up up with liberation, down down with occupation!” Their aim was to demand that the U.S. government cease sending bombs to Israel and profiting from the conflict.
Beth Miller, the political director of Jewish Voice for Peace, the group behind the demonstration, expressed the protesters’ concerns, stating, “Israel is using U.S. bombs to massacre communities in Gaza, while weapons manufacturers on Wall Street are seeing their stock prices soar.” Counterprotesters waving Israeli flags tried to drown out the pro-Palestinian chants, but the demonstrators did not breach the stock exchange. However, around 200 managed to get past security and staged a sit-in on Broad Street before being taken into police custody.
The arrested protesters, with their hands restrained with plastic ties, were led away by officers to waiting vans. Some demonstrators resisted arrest by going limp and had to be carried away. The police spokesperson confirmed around 200 arrests but did not provide details on the charges. The protest occurred a week after the anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israel, triggering Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza and beyond. The tensions escalated with an Israeli airstrike in northern Lebanon that killed at least 21 people.
There was no immediate response from the Israeli military regarding the airstrike’s target. The protest outside the New York Stock Exchange highlighted the ongoing global concerns over the conflict in Gaza and beyond.