‘Christmas Is Canceled’: Pro-Palestinian Protesters Riot in New York, Block O’Hare in Chicago
Pro-Palestinian protesters spent the weekend rioting, disrupting holiday travel, and targeting Christmas in general in an attempt to force Americans to listen to their concerns by causing them inconveniences, disturbing their holiday plans, and irritating them.
In New York City on Monday, several hundred demonstrators carried a bloodied Nativity scene to Rockefeller Center. Some carried Islamic symbols.
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – DECEMBER 25: Pro-Palestinian protesters rally in front of the News Corporation building and near the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, and march on 42nd Street, 5th and Park avenues on Monday, December 25, 2023, in New York City. They chant ‘Christmas is canceled’ while carrying blood-red mock Nativity scene through New York City streets. The police arrest several protesters and use force while detaining. (Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
They attempted to disrupt festivities and later clashed with police.
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES – DECEMBER 25: Pro-Palestinian protesters rally in front of the News Corporation building and near the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, and march on 42nd Street, 5th and Park avenues on Monday, December 25, 2023, in New York City. They chant ‘Christmas is canceled’ while carrying blood-red mock Nativity scene through New York City streets. The police arrest several protesters and use force while detaining. (Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)
One man was heard on video evidently shouting “Jew!” at police.
#BREAKING: NYPD Calls for Level Three Mobilization Amidst Numerous Fights Between Pro-Palestine Protesters and Police at a Large Protest⁰
#Manhattan l #NewYorkCurrently, the New York Police Department has requested a Level Three mobilization for a large protest that is… pic.twitter.com/j2ZAUvERF3
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) December 25, 2023
Update: Video emerged of pro-Palestinian activists vandalizing the Union Square Christmas market with anti-Israel graffiti, and even anti-police graffiti familiar from the Black Lives Matter movement:
#NYC Walls of Union Square Christmas holiday shops walls defaced with “Long Live Palestine”, “Intifada” and “Free Gaza” among other graffiti, as Pro-Palestine protesters marched through, during the “All Out on Christmas for Gaza” Protest today. pic.twitter.com/qdGrSn99yi
— Oliya Scootercaster (@ScooterCasterNY) December 26, 2023
The New York Post reported:
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters converged on Midtown Monday, lugging a blood-red mock Nativity scene and chanting “Christmas is canceled here.”
“Long live the intifada,” the crowd of about 500 demonstrators yelled, using the Arabic word for “rebellion” or “uprising,” as they mobbed the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree where revelers were enjoying the holiday.
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At least six arrests — four for disorderly conduct, one for menacing and one for graffiti — were later reported near Grand Central Station and Union Square, as protesters and cops clashed, according to law enforcement sources.
On Christmas Eve, a pro-Palestinian caravan of cars disrupted Christmas caroling in Washington Square Park, the Post reported.
In Chicago on Christmas Eve, a group of pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel demonstrators targeted the homes of local lawmakers before briefly shutting down Interstate 90 — the key artery connecting Chicago to O’Hare International Airport — in both directions.
Local Fox affiliate WFLD-32 reported:
The caravan’s first stop was at Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky’s home in Evanston, according to the group’s Instagram page.
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Protesters then went to U.S. Senator Dick Durbin’s home in Chicago, shouting chants of “Long live Palestine!”
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For the third stop, the caravan went toward O’Hare International Airport and disrupted traffic on I-190 and Manheim Road. Both sides of the roadway were temporarily shut down and traffic was at a standstill.
The disruptions even reached suburban Memphis, Tennessee, where a pro-Palestinian crowd disrupted Christmas shopping.
Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel demonstrators have been targeting Christmas, and symbols of Christianity, for weeks — though some tried to argue that Christmas has “Palestinian” origins, since Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, which is today administered by the Palestinian Authority. Jesus was a Jew and the name “Palestinian” was not in common use to describe the area until more than a century later. The Palestinian Arabs themselves did not adopt “Palestinian” as their identity until the latter half of the 20th century; prior to 1948, the term “Palestinian” typically referred to a Jewish resident of the British Mandate of Palestine.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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