Radical anti-Israel activists chanting “Allahu Akbar” and waving PLO and Hezbollah flags, clash with local Jews outside Brooklyn synagogue during an Israeli real estate event.
By World Israel News staff
Hundreds of anti-Israel protesters rallied outside of a synagogue in Brooklyn, New York on Monday evening, clashing with local Jews and police officers.
The incident occurred outside of the Young Israel of Midwood in Brooklyn during a protest an Israeli real estate event.
The event advertised homes in Israel and communities in Judea and Samaria. Anti-Israel activists accused the organizers of promoting the sale of “stolen Palestinian land,” while counter-protesters said the demonstration targeted a Jewish neighborhood and a house of worship.
Footage from the scene showed NYPD officers separating the opposing groups as tensions escalated.
Videos circulating online showed physical confrontations, including one incident in which a masked anti-Israel activist yanked a Jewish girl’s hair.
The New York Post reported that at least three people were detained, including two pro-Israel teenagers and one anti-Israel protester, after allegedly throwing objects during the clashes.
Some demonstrators were seen waving Palestine Liberation Organization and Hezbollah flags at the protest.
The protest was organized by PAL-Awda NY/NJ, also known as the Palestinian Assembly for Liberation Al-Awda.
While the protest was billed as a broadly anti-Israel event and included token participation by members of the anti-Zionist Neturei Karta movement, the rally appeared to be largely Muslim.
Video from the scene showed a group of demonstrators holding a Muslim prayer service outside the synagogue, prostrating in the street and chanting “Allahu Akbar.”
Taher Dahleh of the Palestinian Youth Movement told NY1 the protest was intended to pressure the city and the event organizers.
“We’re here today to send a message to the city and to send a message to the organizers that these kinds of events cannot and will not stand in New York City,” Dahleh said.
Counter-protesters said the demonstration was inappropriate because it took place in a heavily Jewish area outside a synagogue.
“There’s a synagogue here. This is clearly a [predominantly] Jewish neighborhood, and they deserve the right to worship in peace,” counter-protester Kasondra Watkins told NY1.
The Brooklyn protest came less than a week after a similar demonstration outside Park East Synagogue in Manhattan, where protesters also targeted an Israeli real estate event.
That protest included a Hezbollah flag, chants against the IDF and scuffles with police.
