A large rally was expected in Times Square in New York on Friday afternoon along with protests in other cities on the American Jewish community’s first Sabbath since waking up last Saturday to news of the Hamas incursion in Israel that left least 1,300 dead and prompted retaliatory ground strikes and preparations for a ground war in Gaza.
As Palestinian supporters around the world gathered, chanted and waved the region’s red, black and green flag, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled by car, foot and donkey cart from northern Gaza Strip on Friday after Israel ordered a evacuation of more than 1 million, which the United Nations described as potentially “calamitous” amid the deteriorating security situation in the area. More than 1,500 people have already been killed in the bombing campaign, a third of them children, and another 6,600 are wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Former Hamas leader Khaled Mashal called for Friday to be a global day of protests against Israel’s retaliation against Hamas, using the standard call from the militant group for demonstrations, and urged supporters to send a “message of rage to Zionists and to America.”
In New York, Mayor Eric Adams (D) said at a security briefing Thursday evening that there are no credible threats to the city but urged people to “remain vigilant” during planned demonstrations. “New York City will do whatever it takes to keep our people safe,” Adams said. The New York Police Department canceled all training for officers Thursday and ordered the force to be in uniform and on patrol, NBC News reported.
In Washington and neighboring Montgomery County, police said Thursday that there were no credible threats to the area but to expect increased law enforcement visibility “to help ensure the safety of our community.” Capitol police said it would “enhance security” in the Capitol complex. On Friday evening, a coalition of organizations planned an “All Out For Gaza” rally at Franklin Park in downtown Washington to “demand an end to the illegal blockade on Gaza, the immediate and uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid, and an end to all U.S. military funding to Israel,” its announcement stated.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, issued a state of emergency order Thursday which took a jab at President Biden and gives DeSantis the power to call out the National Guard and the Florida State Guard, a new security unit that answers directly to him. The emergency order detailed plans to boost security around pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian demonstrations, including on campuses.
Oren Segal, vice president of the Center on Extremism at the Anti-Defamation League, said the group tracked at least 140 protests around the United States since the attack last Saturday, in which some protesters glorified violence and attacks on civilians. So far the protests have been otherwise peaceful, he said.
Online threats against Jewish people have increased 400 percent since last Saturday, Segal said, following a year when the group received the highest number of antisemitic incidents in 40 years. “This is coming at a time when the Jewish community is already feeling vulnerable,” he said. “The way the community has been rattled by what they see in Israel just adds to that.”
Police in most major Texas cities issued advisories about increased vigilance or patrols in response to the call for Friday demonstrations, including in Austin, Dallas and Houston. Austin police said they had directed patrols to certain parts of town and placed officers on “tactical alert” Friday. “We have increased visibility around houses of worship and we will always respond if there is a need for further police presence,” Dallas police said in a statement, adding that the chief and commanders had been in touch with faith leaders and had not received any “credible threats” to the area.
North Texas has seen tense armed protests outside mosques in the past, but also attacks by Muslim extremists, including on a synagogue last year and at an art exhibit featuring pictures of the prophet Muhammad in 2015, when two…
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