Pro-Palestinian protesters blocked several New York City bridges and a tunnel on Monday to demand an immediate ceasefire in the three-month-old Israel-Hamas conflict.
Dozens of demonstrators sat in the roadway and chanted slogans while holding up traffic on the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg bridges across the East River, as well as at the Holland Tunnel connecting New York City with New Jersey across the Hudson, local media reported.
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.”
Video posted on social media showed dozens of protesters, many of whom wore bright yellow or orange vests, sitting on the ground off the roadway near the tunnel with their hands cuffed behind their backs.
The protests were organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, the Palestinian Youth Movement, and the New York chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, among other groups, they said on X, formerly called Twitter.
“We’re hoping that with this action we can inspire others to keep agitating, keep escalating and keep disrupting until we have like shown that we will not stop until the US supports a permanent ceasefire,” said one protester named ‘Mon’ at the Brooklyn Bridge.
Similar demonstrations have occurred in Europe and North America over the last several weeks calling for Israel to halt the bombardment of Gaza triggered by a surprise Oct. 7 operation by Hamas.
That attack left more than 1,200 people dead in Israel. Palestinian health officials say 22,722 people have so far been killed in Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
(Source: Reuters)
