One would think that on the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack there would be memorial services for the innocent victims. Instead through the streets of New York City, there was a protest against Israel and in support of everything that Hamas stands for.
When I learned there would be a protest I was disgusted. Not because I don’t want peace, but because this protest was held on a day of mourning, which I see as a deliberate insult. You cannot have a call for peace while, at the same time, insulting those you wish to make peace with. This contradiction simply does not make any sense.
I choose to attend this event to be a witness of history and to see for myself how this so-called Flood New York City For Palestine would unfold. I expected to see a peaceful assembly of college students exercising their constitutional rights, but, as I followed the group from city hall to Union Square, what I witnessed was nothing short of bigoted hate speech.
As the group made its way north of city hall and past the courthouses, I followed in the back and outside, as I did not want to be mistaken for a protestor. It was at this point when I realized how much these people truly hate me, not for anything I had done, not for anything I had said, but simply because I am Jewish and I exist.
“Last solution! Best solution!” is the chant I heard repeated several times in a call-and-response type manner by a group of people, all of which had their faces covered, as they held the largest Palestinian flag I have ever seen.
This was the only time that day I heard this chant, so they must have learned that they cannot openly allude to the systematic murder of Jews. Instead, like their faces, they must hide their beliefs under the guise of a call for peace.
Soon after, I saw a man whose face was covered flash KKK hand signs and yell KKK and random Black people who were walking by.
Once I got near Soho, I found myself mixed in with a group following the protest like I was. A woman yelled at us, “How much are you getting paid? How much are they paying you to be here?” This baffled me, because the idea people in a historically Jewish city would willingly show support for Israel was so alien to her she believed we were getting paid.
There were only a dozen people waving Israeli flags, one or two people shouting “Free the hostages,” and myself, a man wearing a yarmulka and biting my tongue.
That’s a pretty lame conspiracy, if you ask me.
Seeing the protest grow, a burnt and torn American flag being dragged on the ground, and the dirty looks I received as I wrapped Tefillin may have been the tipping point for me, because eventually I grew tired of holding my tongue.
In response to the chant of “Fee Palestine, free Palestine” I decided to respond back with “Free the hostages.” He turned towards me with a gleeful expression and acted like he could not hear me, so I repeated myself several times with increasing volume until he could no longer play pretend. He then chuckled to himself and with a smile on his face said, “What hostages? There are none. That’s all propaganda.”
I knew I had to leave, my patience was growing thin, and I was getting into an argument with an anti-Semitic troll. I realized, to these protesters, this was nothing more than a game to them, a fun outing where they could get together to curse out Israel and the Jews along with it.
I understand how important free speech is, and anyone in their right mind wants a peaceful resolution to this conflict, but everyone has a responsibility to educate themselves before voicing such radical ideas. We cannot ignore facts, Hamas started this conflict when, on Oct. 7, 2023, it orchestrated the deadliest attack against Jews since the Holocaust. Moreover, a year later, there are still 97 human beings being held captive in Gaza.
So when I see you marching on this day, and whatever calls for peace you have are drowned out by “Last solution! Best solution!” and denials that hostages exist, I don’t see this protest as a call to end violence, but instead I see it as a call to start a new Pogrom.