The White House condemned “any individual associating with the repugnant terrorist organization Hamas.”
By Joshua Marks, JNS
Thousands of anti-Israel protesters, including some waving terrorist flags, marched through New York City on Monday, lighting flares and setting off smoke bombs, The New York Post reported.
The demonstrators, who police said numbered up to 7,000 at one point, stormed through Manhattan on Labor Day, starting in the afternoon at Union Square and making their way to Washington Square Park.
Video showed NYPD officers shoved aside while attempting to stop the march. Four were arrested in clashes with police.
Protestors were documented waving Hamas flags, as well as Palestinian, Syrian, Iranian and Hezbollah banners. Both Hamas and Hezbollah have been designated foreign terrorist organizations by the United States since Oct. 8, 1997.
One flag included images of Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar and Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ziyad al-Nakhalah. Islamic Jihad has also been a designated foreign terrorist organization since Oct. 8, 1997.
The protesters participated in violent chants of “Free Palestine!” and “Resistance is justified when people are occupied.”
Counter-protesters were documented at Union Square, with one counter-protester seen with a combined Israeli and American flag.
The White House condemned the flying of Hamas flags at the demonstration, which came days after the terrorist group murdered six hostages in Gaza, including a U.S. citizen.
“As President Biden and Vice President Harris have said, there is absolutely no place in America for the poison of antisemitism—none,” said White House spokesperson Andrew Bates.
“They and the entire Biden-Harris Administration condemn any individual associating with the repugnant terrorist organization Hamas,” the statement continued.
“It is especially heinous to express support for Hamas on the same day as the funeral for an innocent American hostage who they brutally murdered,” Bates added, referring to Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose body was among the six recovered from Gaza by Israeli forces over the weekend.
“This is a moment for all Americans to come together and stand against antisemitism and against the sickening hate and evil that Hamas represents,” Bates concluded.
In Times Square in late July, anti-Israel protesters held up large photos of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah leader Fuad Shukr, both assassinated on July 31, as well as flags of Hamas, Hezbollah and Hamas’s “military wing,” Izz ad-Din al-Qassam. They also made an inverted-triangle hand signal identified by the Anti-Defamation League as a symbol of support for Hamas.
In June, pro-Palestinian activists raised the flag of the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist group during a rally outside the Israeli consulate in Manhattan.