NEW YORK - Approximately 200 pro-Palestinian protestors shut down major roadways into Manhattan on Monday morning, a spokesperson for the New York Police Department told The Jerusalem Post.
The Holland Tunnel, which connects New Jersey and Manhattan across the Hudson River, and the Williamsburg, Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges connecting New York across the East River, were shut down by 10 a.m. but reopened by noon when protestors dispersed, NPYD told The Post.
The NPYD told The Post it would not confirm any arrests or incident reports.
Why is Wall Street the next location?
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the Holland Tunnel, said on its website that the lanes to New Jersey were closed "due to police activity.
The NPYD said on X, formerly called Twitter, to expect traffic delays and use alternative routes.
Protest organizers called for groups to meet Monday morning at City Hall Park to “shut down Wall Street,” according to a post on X from the People’s Forum, a political advocacy organization.
"We are SHUTTING DOWN WALL STREET! While a genocide continues in Palestine, Wall Street makes billions in profits from the US/Israeli war machine and its system of apartheid and occupation. It’s time to say it again: no business as usual while there’s a genocide!” according to the post.
TOMORROW Mon, Jan 8th, 9:30AM SHARPWe are SHUTTING DOWN WALL STREET! While a genocide continues in Palestine, Wall Street makes billions in profits from the US/Israeli war machine and its system of apartheid and occupation. It’s time to say it again: no business as usual… pic.twitter.com/G5jFxxZBeu
— The People's Forum (@PeoplesForumNYC) January 7, 2024
Video posted on social media showed protesters chanting: "NYPD, KKK, IDF they’re all the same," referring to the New York Police Department, Ku Klux Klan and the Israel Defense Forces.
Protesters at the Holland Tunnel carried banners that said "Lift the siege on Gaza," "Ceasefire Now" and "End the occupation."
"The siege on Gaza needs to end and I'm ready to put my body on the line to end it," said one protester as she was led away by a police officer with her hands behind her back, video showed.
In a statement released after the protest, organizers said protestors created a "physical analogue for the situation in Gaza, where there is no getting out."
According to the statement, the protest was organized by members of the Palestinian Youth Movement, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Democratic Socialists of America, Jewish Voices for Peace, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Critical Resistance, and Writers Against the War on Gaza.
The statement said protestors sought to amplify demands of the Palestinian Youth Movement, including an immediate and permanent ceasefire and ending US aid to Israel.
"The day chosen for this action - Monday, January 8 - is significant for more than one reason," the statement said.
"Today is also the first day of the global strike called for by the Palestinian people. The weekly campaign rests on the belief that there can be no business as usual during a genocide; that the collecive power of the people refusing to expend labor or capital can pressure the systemps of Western imperialism; that, in short, if the world will not stop