(Adnkronos) – About 50 people were arrested in New York after participating in a protest outside the Trump International Hotel, near Columbus Circle, to ask the Trump administration to pressure Israel to stop the assault on Gaza and allow humanitarian aid into the Strip. Police arrested about 30 people for blocking the street outside the hotel. The demonstration, titled “Jews Say Enough,” was organized by T’ruah, Jews for Economic and Racial Justice, IfNotNow, and Israelis for Peace.
“We must continue to apply pressure and get more food and aid to Gaza now, before more Palestinians starve to death,” T’ruah said. According to organizers, more than 900 people participated in the protest. “We are saying with one voice that we oppose these atrocities, not despite our Jewishness, but for many of us precisely because of it,” said Deborah Kaplan, interim director of IfNotNow.
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, the city’s highest-ranking Jewish elected official, said: “Yesterday we commemorated Tisha B’Av, mourning the destruction inflicted upon the Jewish people. Today we are here to denounce the destruction perpetrated by the Jewish state.” Motaz Azaiza, a photographer from Gaza, said: “The people of Gaza just want to live in peace, not be afraid to walk down the street to get food, not experience the violence of the occupation. I just want protection for my people. This madness has to end.”
