[ad_1] Hundreds of anti-Israel protesters descended on Bryant Park Thursday afternoon and later occupied the lobby of the New York Times building as
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Hundreds of anti-Israel protesters descended on Bryant Park Thursday afternoon and later occupied the lobby of the New York Times building as they called for the elimination of the Jewish state and accused President Biden of backing “genocide.”
The crowds of demonstrators labelled Israel a “terrorist state” while chanting “From river to the sea, Palestine will be free” – a phrase known to call for the eradication of Israel — as they marched through mid-town on Thursday evening (local time).
The large rally is the latest in a series of fiery protests to engulf the Big Apple since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack that led Israel to launch retaliatory strikes.
“Biden, Biden, you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide,” protesters also yelled just hours after the commander in chief told reporters there is “no possibility” of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Protesters occupied the lobby of the Times building as they chanted outside of it and handed out mock newspaper copies of “The New York War Crimes.”
“We will continue holding the New York Times to account … for inciting genocide,” the chants boomed. “Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for the New York Times. Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes.
“New York Times, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide.”
They also chanted, “F**k New York Times” and “Tell the truth.”
Cops were in the lobby with the protesters who entered and later were able to clear the area.
Outside the building, the back window of an NYPD cruiser was smashed and spray painted with “FREE GAZA” on the side of it.
A smoke bomb was also tossed nearby and “Free Palestine” was scrawled across a Starbucks window at the Times building, law enforcement sources told The Post.
One protester, Queens resident Ryan Bartok, 31, claimed the Gray Lady is pushing out “the propagandized narrative put out by the Israeli state.”
Another demonstrator, Queens resident Agatha James, 31, said the protesters went to the Times building to send a “clear message.”
“The direct action inside the building was to send a clear message to the editorial board of the New York Times about their complicity in the deaths of Palestinians and about the refusal to call for a ceasefire and accurately report on the reality of what is happening — a genocide,” James said.
No arrests were immediately reported on Thursday evening, cops said. The protesters disbanded at around 6pm.
Earlier in the rally, demonstrators scaled statues outside the New York Public Library where they waved Palestinian flags.
In one unnerving moment, a 22-year-old NYU graduate student was swarmed by protesters and jostled after he yelled in Hebrew “Long live the beautiful state of Israel” while brandishing a poster of an Israeli hostage kidnapped by Hamas.
“I walked in, I stood there, and I just felt the need to be the one voice in that entire crowd standing against this,” the student told The Post. He said he was on his way home from a seminar.
“I chanted in Hebrew, which means ‘long live the people of Israel’ or ‘life to the people of Israel’ and a swarm of them came at me, yelling, one of them took the poster out of my hand,” the Murray Hill resident who has family in Israel said. “Is that not a kidnapped human being? Then they yelled ‘go back to Israel.’”
This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission
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