More than 100 arrested at demonstration calling for ceasefire in Israel-Hamas conflict

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More than 100 protesters in New York City were arrested on Friday during demonstrations calling for urgent humanitarian aid and a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas crisis.

More than 3,000 people marched in heavy rain from Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan to the office of US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, where they condemned the killings of Palestinians and Israelis and demanded she and other members of Congress support a ceasefire resolution.

The “Ceasefire Now” peace march snarled traffic throughout Manhattan and a sit-in demonstration blocked streets during rush hour, prompting police to make arrests.

The New York City Police Department arrested 137 people, the law enforcement agency said in a statement.

New York State Senator Jabari Brisport was among those arrested. In a video he shared on social media, the senator chants “free Palestine” as he stands in a handcuffed group behind a line of NYPD officers.

“We will not let our leaders repeat the mistakes of the past by escalating this war,” he wrote.

The arrests came in the middle of a week of demonstrations demanding an immediate end to the bloody conflict which has killed thousands in the span of two weeks. Demonstrations were organised across the country including in Oakland, San Diego, Denver, Houston, New Orleans, Chicago, Cleveland and Washington DC.

Demonstrations, including vigils and rallies to support Israel, have taken place across New York’s five boroughs in the wake of Hamas attacks that killed more than 1,700 Israelis.

Protests have condemned the killing of Israelis as well as the deaths of more than 4,000 people in Gaza in the bombardments that followed.

“We believe in the sanctity of all life, and so we have condemned the [deaths of] civilians who were killed on 7 October from Hamas’ horrific attacks, and we condemn the [deaths of] 4,100 Palestinians who have been killed since then,” New York State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani told New York’s ABC News affiliate during Friday’s protest.

Last week, more than 60 people were arrested during a protest at Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza. Another protest broke out in front of the Brooklyn home of US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer demanding his support for a ceasefire resolution.

Several Democratic members of Congress have introduced a resolution supporting “an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Israel and Palestine”.

Ceasefire demonstrations organised by progressive Jewish groups and Palestinian civil rights groups have continued throughout Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan in recent days. Ceasefire demonstrations were also held throughout Washington DC last week to demand an immediate Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

More than 300 protesters were arrested at the US Capitol after holding a sit-in demonstration on the floor of the rotunda on 18 October. Another group of demonstrators was arrested during a protest near the White House a day earlier.