Gaza cease-fire protests block New York City bridges, and over 300 are arrested

Hundreds of protesters calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war blocked traffic in New York City at crucial bridges and a tunnel, disrupting the Monday morning commute and leading to more than 300 arrests, El.kz cites AP. 

A steady stream of demonstrations have broken out in cities across the United States and in other countries during the three-month war in the Gaza Strip. Protesters interrupted President Joe Biden’s campaign speechMonday at a church in South Carolina with chants of “cease-fire now,” and were removed from the building.

In Manhattan, people chanting and holding anti-war signs sat in roadways and locked themselves together using zip ties and even cement-filled tires, which at times required officers to use power tools to pry the demonstrators apart.

Demonstrators had gathered at City Hall Plaza at around 9 a.m. before marching to the protest sites at the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges as well as the Holland Tunnel to New Jersey.

Protest organizers included the Palestinian Youth Movement and Jewish-led groups long opposed to Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians, such as Jewish Voice for Peace. The groups said they want to see a permanent cease-fire and an end to the U.S. government’s arming of the Israel, among other things.

“By blocking the city’s exits, the protesters created—briefly, imperfectly—a physical analogue for the situation in Gaza, where there is no getting out,” the groups wrote in a statement following the protests.

At a news briefing Monday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he understood “the pain of innocent lives being lost right now,” but questioned the tactics used by pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

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