Pro-Palestinian rallies target shopping hubs on Super Saturday: 'No business as usual'
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES - DECEMBER 16: Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters, holding flags and banners, gather on the streets of Manhattan to stage a demonstration in support of Palestinians in New York, United States on December 16, 2023. (Photo
NEW YORK CITY - Two large-scale pro-Palestinian protests are set to take place ahead of the busy Christmas holiday as the Israel-Hamas war rages in Gaza.
Dec. 23 is considered the "Christmas Eve eve" or Super Saturday of the year.
Sensormatic Solutions' predicts that it will be one of the busiest shopping days of the season.
One rally will take place at the largest shopping mall on Long Island and the other on Fifth Avenue in Midtown.
The ‘No business as usual during a genocide’ rally will be held by 'Muslims for Progress’ and others at Roosevelt Field Mall around 1 p.m. Saturday.
According to a press release for the event, large crowds will rally holding signs "urging holiday shoppers to engage in targeted boycotts this holiday season, large banners naming organizations, and other visual art forms in solidarity with the people of Palestine."
The rally will aim to urge New Yorkers to join the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement to demand an end to U.S. financial aid to Israel.
Despite mounting international calls for a cease-fire, Israel has vowed to keep up the fight until Hamas is destroyed and removed from power in Gaza and all the hostages are freed. On Friday, the U.N. Security Council adopted a watered-down resolution that calls for immediately speeding up aid deliveries to desperate civilians in Gaza, but not for a cease-fire.
Pro-Palestinian groups 'The People's Forum' and ‘Palestinian Youth Movement’, with nearly 500,000 followers combined-- will hold a ‘No Xmas as Usual In a Genocide’ rally on Fifth Avenue and 59th Street around 1 p.m. Saturday.
Just this week, hundreds of demonstrators were gathered Monday at major transit hubs like Grand Central, Port Authority Bus Terminal and Penn Station.
Demonstrators made their way inside, waving Palestinian flags and banners as commuters waited for trains.
Protesters stage sit-in at New York Times HQ
Last month, pro-Palestinian demonstrators occupied the lobby of The New York Times, accusing the media of showing a bias toward Israel in its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.
The demonstration saw thousands march through Midtown Manhattan. A group of demonstrators led by media workers calling themselves "Writers Bloc" entered the atrium of the Times building carrying a banner calling for a cease-fire.
They remained for over an hour, reading off the names of thousands of Palestinians killed in Gaza, including at least 36 journalists whose deaths had been confirmed since the war began.
They scattered editions of a mock newspaper — "The New York War Crimes" — that charged the media with "complicity in laundering genocide" and called on The Times’ editorial board to publicly back a cease-fire.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.