ARE WAKING UP’
streets to show support for Palestine
Thousands of demonstrators
fl ooded the
streets of Bay Ridge
on May 15 for Nakba
Day, which came as
tensions in the Middle
East boiled over during
a bloody confl ict
between Palestine and
Israel that sparked
worldwide debate over
the confl ict.
COURIER LIFE, MAY 21-27, 2021 3
confl ict from a Palestinian perspective
due to social media.
“We are having a moment
where people are waking up
and realizing the truth,” she
said. “Palestinians on the
ground are sharing raw footage
of the destruction and hardships
they’re facing by the Israeli
government.”
However, Kiswani claims
that progress still has its caveats
as some posts have been
“shadow banned” or removed
from social networking sites.
“Social media as great as a
tool as it has been, it also has
been deleting a lot of the videos
coming out of Palestine,”
she told Brooklyn Paper. “It’s
been shadow banning and censoring.
We’ve had posts taken
down.”
But on May 15, “Bay Ridge”
was trending on Twitter — as
countless New Yorkers, and
some celebrities, went live from
or amplifi ed others’ posts of the
Nabka Day demonstration.
The massive Brooklyn showing
comes on the heels of both
pro-Palestine and pro-Israel
demonstrations citywide. On
Friday, also in Brooklyn, Jewish
Voice for Peace led a group
of protesters from Grand Army
Plaza to the home of Senate Majority
Leader Chuck Schumer,
where they demanded he cut
funding to Israel.
Outside the pol’s home, protesters
left placards with the
names of Palestinians who
have been killed by Israeli air
strikes.
“Tonight, @jvpliveNY led
a march to Senator Schumer’s
house to demand he take immediate
action to protect Palestine.
We left placards with
the names of Palestinians who
have been murdered by Israel,
along with fl owers and stones.
We will fi ght for justice in
their names,” wrote Twitter
user Andy Ratto.”
In Bay Ridge on Saturday,
just one of the area’s elected
offi cials appeared to support
the Nabka Day demonstration
publicly.
“History was made in
#bayridge today as thousands
marched in the streets to protest
the killings of families
and children in Palestine,”
tweeted Democratic Assemblymember
Mathylde Frontus.
“Bay Ridge has a robust
Arab community and my
heart aches to know that so
many are mourning the loss of
loved ones in Gaza. The bloodshed
must end.”
Monday evening, Councilmember
Justin Brannan
told Brooklyn Paper, “There
are no words to salve or make
sense of the pain so many of
my constituents are feeling –
worried sick about family and
friends back home.”
“Bay Ridge is home to one
of the largest Palestinian communities
in the country,” he
went on. “I support the aspiration
of the Palestinian people
for self-determination, in an
independent state. We must
end violence in Jerusalem and
Gaza and prevent further loss
of innocent life. The US has a
moral obligation to demand a
ceasefi re.”
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis,
on the other hand, joined at
least 50 of her Republican
colleagues in spotlighting
acts of terrorism committed
by Hamas, which recently
launched rockets into Israel,
killing multiple civilians.
“My heart is pained by the
tragic spate of ongoing violence
in Israel,” said Malliotakis,
the city’s lone Republican
member of Congress whose
district includes Bay Ridge,
in a statement released the
day before the rally. “We must
continue to stand with our
ally, against the terrorism of
Hamas, and the White House
must work to immediately deescalate
the violence and build
on the progress of the Abraham
Accords to bring peace to
the region.”
Aside from the clash of
ideas over the confl ict playing
out overseas, some Ridgeites
were simply bothered by the
increased traffi c congestion
generated by the protests here
at home, which consumed already
traffi c-dense thoroughfares
like Third and Fifth
Avenues — and parts of the
Brooklyn-Queens Expressway
— for hours over the weekend.
“Is blocking a highway
permitted as part of a protest
permit? Asking for families
caught in in and who were
afraid. @NYPD68Pct @NYPDHighway
@NYPDShea @
NYPDnews,” wrote John Quaglione
on Twitter.
Kiswani responded to the
complaints of congestion, arguing
that, if the rally taught
anyone about the 73-year
plight of the Palestinian people,
then it was worth a few
people getting stuck in traffi c.
“If it causes some traffi c for
people, but is educating folks
overall about a cause that they
should know about,” she said,
“they should thank us for taking
the time to deliver that
message rather than ignore
the suffering, the plight of the
Palestinian people for something
so arbitrary.”
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell Photo by Caroline Ourso
Photo by Caroline Ourso