For the third week in a row, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) has attempted to use repression and arrests to intimidate the movement for Palestine in our city. The arrest of seven demonstrators, including march organizers, today when we took the streets, as we have done on a daily and weekly basis for the past four months, is a violation of our first amendment right to free speech and right to protest. We saw this on Friday February 2 as well, when the NYPD brutally cracked down on students and activists at Columbia University who have been fighting censorship and repression even by their university administration.
New Yorkers have been organizing protests across the city on almost a daily basis in opposition to Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people and the complicity of our elected officials on a local and national level in arming and funding this genocide. This movement has brought together artists, nurses, writers, trade unionists, students, doctors, tech workers, city workers, and so many others. It is clear that this diverse and vibrant movement has become a political liability for these corrupt politicians, whose complicity with genocide has now been laid bare for the whole city to see.
Mayor Eric Adams thinks that he can shut us up by arresting our leaders, violating our constitutional rights, and militarizing our city. He could not be further from the truth, we will continue organizing, mobilizing, and fighting with more unity, with more conviction, until the genocide ends and Palestine is free.
Palestinian Youth Movement
Party for Socialism and Liberation
The People’s Forum
National Students for Justice in Palestine
PAL – Al Awda NY/NJ The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
ANSWER Coalition
