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Every year during the holiday season, New York City empties out as its residents travel to spend the Christmas vacation with parents and grandparents. However, this year the city was filled with Palestinian flags, "Genocide Joe" banners with images of U.S. President Joe Biden with bloodstained hands, and chants of "Long live Hamas," "Intifada," and "Cease-fire now."
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Hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through the relatively empty city center on Monday in a protest dubbed "Christmas with all our might for Gaza." Facing them were hundreds of police officers, at a ratio of one officer per protester.
At least six people were arrested, and one officer was injured. Malikah, a student at NYU wrapped in a black hijab and carrying a Palestinian flag, told Ynet that she is using her break from university studies to protest against the "apartheid regime" and the "massacre happening now in Gaza."
"In Gaza, there is no Christmas," she declared. "Here too, every celebration should be canceled. The campuses may be empty, but the struggle continues! Long live Gaza, long live Hamas!"
In Washington, D.C., dozens, including students, demonstrated in the residential neighborhoods of White House officials, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. "War criminals cannot celebrate Christmas as usual," proclaimed demonstrators, while the officials enjoyed holiday meals with their families.
Like Malikah, many pro-Palestinian students are taking advantage of the holiday break between semesters to protest against Israel, but there is also another side on campus. For example, students like Roy Benaya from Yale University and Amnon Zacharia from Columbia University initiated an evening of donation and support for Israel.
"The situation in the country and the media coverage worldwide did not give me peace," says Benaya. "The opportunity to be part of a group of students like me, who support and express solidarity with the country on every occasion, is very important to me and strengthens me."
He and six other students on campus decided to call on their peers to join the donation event, which raised over $145,000 for the United Hatzalah rescue organization.
"We all gathered, and brainstormed on how, beyond our public diplomacy efforts, we could better leverage our presence on campus for the benefit of Israel," said Ziv Levi, one of the students behind the initiative. "To my delight, on that same evening, we met with Mark Garrison, the international chairman of United Hatzalah, and it was immediately clear to us that the donation event for United Hatzalah would perfectly fulfill what we were looking for."