Radical anti-Israel activists in Manhattan praise Hamas and embrace antisemitic slurs

The number of anti-Israel rallies worldwide has increased dramatically since the terrorist organization Hamas invaded Israel and massacred at least 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7. At the same time, anti-Israel rallies in the United States, Europe and elsewhere are becoming more radical and threatening.

The organization, Within Our Lifetime - United For Palestine (WOL) is a radical anti-Israel movement that calls for resistance "by any means necessary against Israel,” signaling its violent intentions.

The extremist movement recently organized a rally in Manhattan where participants embraced antisemitic slurs and praised Hamas military wing spokesperson Abu Obeida.

The extremist activist Abdallah Aqel incited the rally participants, calling for them to “attack Tel Aviv.” 

Anti-Israel and anti-Zionist manifestations have increased since Oct. 7, with global calls to “Free Palestine” and "From the river to the sea" being used as code words for wiping the world’s only Jewish state from the map. 

Rabbi Daniel Friedman from the Jewish Center of Teaneck in New Jersey recalled the threatening and blatantly antisemitic atmosphere outside local Jewish community centers in the U.S.

"They come to the city every week, hold protests, and parade with Palestinian flags to pressure the Jewish community. Massive protests have been held against synagogues these past three weeks. Hate marches. They shouted at us that we need to go back to Auschwitz," Friedman said. 

"We had people from the IDF, who do sacred and true charity work, and they came to speak at the community’s synagogue,” Rabbi Friedman continued.  “Protesters arrived, most of them being outside Teaneck, to demonstrate against what they call 'ZAKA's lies.’”

While radicalized anti-Israel protesters seek to demonize and dehumanize the Jewish state, they deny the unprecedented atrocities that Hamas terrorists committed against Israeli civilians including women, children and the elderly during the Oct. 7 massacres.

To combat this growing global “Holocaust denial-like phenomenon,” in October, Israel compiled raw footage of Hamas body-cam videos that terrorists proudly filmed while committing unprecedented crimes against Jews on Israel's southern border communities with Gaza.

The same pro-Palestinian organization led a demonstration outside a synagogue in Teaneck this week where an event involving IDF members was held. The protest included an attempt to deny the atrocities committed by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad on Oct. 7.

Friedman who hails from a religious and Zionist background, emphasized that his community would not be intimidated by the anti-Israel crowds. 

"We are a community of religious and very Zionist Jews," the rabbi said. "Since the start of the war, there are people who wanted to sow cause chaos and arrange all sorts of protests and events to pressure us. We’re resilient and full of determination, and we won't let them intimidate us," Friedman vowed. 

While polls suggest that most Americans support Israel, anti-Israel and anti-Jewish sentiments are on the rise, especially among younger Americans and those on the far left. U.S. campuses have emerged as epicenters of hatred against Israel, Jews and supporters of the Jewish state. 

The prominent Jewish American film producer Steven Spielberg recently warned of extremists who spread bigotry on U.S. college campuses. 

“We see every day how the machinery of extremism is being used on college campuses,“ he said. 

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. And I am increasingly alarmed that we may be condemned to repeat history, to once again have to fight for the very right to be Jewish,” Spielberg warned.