What may have been a contentious rally in Bay Ridge on Wednesday evening was largely peaceful, as an expected clash between opposing groups of protesters did not materialize.
Hundreds of pro-Palestine protesters gathered outside the Islamic Society of Bay Ridge on Feb. 26 after rumors spread online that pro-Israel groups would protest outside the mosque the same night.
A flyer posted on social media called for a “Protest Against Anti-Semetism” [sic] at the mosque’s address, seemingly in response to a Feb. 18 protest at a Borough Park real estate expo that advertised property for sale in Israel and the occupied West Bank.
“They came to our synagogues and to our neighborhoods, now we go to theirs!” the flyer reads.
In response, dozens of local Palestinian organizations, headed by activist group Pal-Awda, organized a counter-rally to “Defend Bay Ridge & Palestine.”
“A Zionist protest targeting a mosque central to New York’s Palestinian and Arab community must be understood for what it is: a blatantly racist, anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic attack that is a clear attempt to intimidate the movement for Palestine,” Pal-Awda said in a statement.
A few hundred supporters filled Fifth Avenue on Feb. 26, many waving Palestinian flags and signs with slogans like “Free Palestine” and “We’re on the right side of history.” But while the event drew a heavy police presence — including an NYPD helicopter hovering overhead — the pro-Israel protesters never arrived.
“They pulled that flyer because they saw our community come together in large force,” said Pal-Awda member Leena Widdi at the protest. “Muslims, Jews, organizers who care about Palestine … put out a call to protect Bay Ridge, to protect our masjid, to protect our people.”
The flyer promoting the “Protest Against Anti-Semetism” [sic] was removed from social media after it started gaining traction, organizers said, but it was not immediately clear which groups had planned it. Images of the flyer remaining online on Feb. 26 were low-resolution, and the names of four groups listed at the bottom largely illegible. Two of the groups listed, “Zionist Action Network” and “United Zionists,” do not have web or social media presence.
Text messages shared with Brooklyn Paper appear to show organizers of the “Protest Against Anti-Semetism” [sic] discussing the flyer and the protest, as well as deleting the social media posts featuring the flyer.
On Monday, the group Betar US said on X that “There will not be counter protests for Wednesday’s pro Hamas march in nyc.”
Betar US was recently added to the Anti-Defamation League’s “Glossary of Extremism and Hate.” The ADL says the group “openly embraces Islamophobia and harasses Muslims online and in person” and has posted videos of violent incidents online. Al-Awda, the parent organization of Pal-Awda, is also listed in the glossary for what the ADL describes as a “long history of espousing antisemitic, anti-Zionist, and pro-terror rhetoric.”
Protesters push back on recent criticism
Rallygoers Wednesday said they were frustrated by recent events in southern Brooklyn – including the response to the Feb. 18 protest in Borough Park.
Similar events have drawn criticism from locals opposed to the sale of Palestinian land in the West Bank.
As of Feb. 19, Jerusalem-based real estate company the Getter Group, which hosted the Borough Park expo, listed several West Bank settlements for availability on its website, though those listings have since been removed. Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory are considered illegal under international law, as is the sale of occupied territory, according to Amnesty International.
But last week’s event grew violent as pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protesters clashed, and one person was arrested for allegedly punching another in the face. Local elected officials largely condemned the protest as antisemitic, with U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries saying it was “clearly designed to intimidate and harass Jews in the Borough Park neighborhood.”
“Last night we saw protesters in Boro Park targeting Jewish New Yorkers with hateful rhetoric and antisemitic chants,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said on X. “This is unacceptable.”
But Widdi said the pols “completely omitted the fact that we were protesting an event.”
Malik Hassan, executive director of the Muslim American Society Youth Center, said the protest happened in Borough Park because the expo was happening there.
“If that specific sale was happening here in Bay Ridge, we would be protesting here,” he said. “If it was happening in any other neighborhood, we would be going there.”
Hassan said Jewish groups who protested against the expo were harassed after the Feb. 18 event, and one person was hospitalized after they were physically attacked and pepper sprayed.
Thomas Cox, a Park Slope local who attended Wednesday’s protest, said he’s been involved in human rights causes “for many, many years,” and has long been opposed to sales of Palestinian land.
“We have to keep our eyes on hope,” he said. “We have to avoid taking sides. We want to stick with our principles of justice and equal rights and not get caught up in momentary distractions.”
The Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel — and Israel’s subsequent military bombardment of Gaza — inflamed tensions across New York City. Both antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crimes rose, with 344 anti-Jewish and 45 anti-Muslim and anti-Arab incidents reported in 2024, compared to 261 and 19, respectively, in 2022.
On Feb. 18, the same day as the Borough Park protest, a man wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat and a ski mask was filmed shouting Islamophobic remarks outside a mosque in Kensington.
In recent weeks, tensions surrounding Israel and Gaza have been particularly high. A ceasefire has been in place since Jan. 19, and officials are negotiating its next phase. But the deal has seemed fragile at times — early on, aid was slow to flow into Gaza, in part because of Israeli restrictions on certain supplies.
On Feb. 18, as part of the ceasefire agreement, Hamas sent to Israel what it said were the bodies of four hostages, including young Ariel and Kfir Bibas and their mother, Shiri. But officials quickly determined that the group had sent the remains of a Palestinian woman. Shiri’s body was returned the next day.
In early February, President Donald Trump said the U.S. should “take over” Gaza, displacing all Palestinians who live there, and turn it into “the Riviera of the Middle East.” The proposal drew sharp criticism from Middle Eastern leaders, and would violate international law.
Another rallygoer, who declined to share his name, said it felt good to be “protecting the neighborhood.” He worried that the organizers of the would-be pro-Israel protest could have incited violence, and said that courts are often discriminatory against Palestinian-Americans.
No arrests were made at the Feb. 26 protest, per the NYPD.
“We’re here for peace, man,” he said. “We don’t want to fight nobody.”
