Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Yemeni Mission in New York City on Friday night to denounce the US military's offensive against Houthi rebels in response to a militant attack on a transport ship in the Red Sea.
During a “Hands Off Yemen” rally outside the United Nations Mission at East 51st Street and 1st Avenue in Midtown, a protester in the crowd attacked a couple holding an Israeli flag.
As the couple tried to push their dog through the crowd, the man was shoved and snatched from his hands by a demonstrator who tried to set an Israeli flag on fire.
“Long live Hamas, you bastards!” a man waving a “Free Palestine” flag yelled at the pair as they separated from the rest of the crowd.
A local man and woman, who requested anonymity, told the newspaper that they were heading to the dog park when they saw a crowd of protesters blocking the road.
The man said he ran back to his apartment, grabbed an Israeli flag and tried to make his way through the crowd when he was shoved.
“The next step, I promise you, they're going to support ISIS,” the Israeli-born man raged about the protesters. “ISIS is a good thing because ISIS hates America. What's going on here is beyond insane.”
chants such as “From the river to the sea, Yemen will be free!” could be heard from the crowd. “Gaza called and Yemen answered. Before we could start the march, all Israeli boats were canceled.”
Some held signs saying “Hands off Yemen” and “Fuck Biden,” while others chanted “Massacre Joe must go.”
At one point, a man waving an Israeli flag walked up to the demonstrators and began shouting at them.
“They are pro-Palestinian and have never been to Palestine!” he yelled at the demonstrators, forcing them back before they surrounded him.
“Go back to Palestine,” a man told protesters outside the Horny Rum pub on Second Avenue.
“We want to!” one of them shot back.
Several demonstrators were also seen removing “Stand with Israel” stickers from light poles as they marched. Some tore down posters intended for kidnapped Israelis.
“Yeah! Damn Israel! One of them cheered as he watched.
Nerdeen Kiswani, founder of the pro-Palestinian group Within Our Lifetime, said outside the United Nations: “We are resisting by any means necessary, so only Yemenis and Palestinians can be free. “They are the people who deserve it.''
“We don't trust your courts, your institutions, your governments. The puppets of the US, the UK, all the Arab Zionist normalizing regimes… we only believe in the resistance,” she said. Ta.
“As long as there is resistance in Palestine and Yemen, as long as Yemen and Gaza are under blockade, we will stand up to resist it,” Kiswani said.
Police said it was not immediately clear if any arrests had been made.
President Biden announced on Thursday that a U.S.- and British-led attack on Houthi targets in Yemen, days after Iranian-backed rebels carried out the “largest attack ever” on a Red Sea shipping ship. They announced that they had attacked 30 locations.
The Houthis, who control much of the impoverished country, have been attacking and hijacking cargo ships transiting the crucial Red Sea route over the past few weeks in support of Hamas since the extremist group's war with Israel broke out. .
The rebels have so far targeted 27 ships.
Houthi leaders say five people were killed in the US attack, and a large anti-American rally has begun in Yemen's capital Sanaa. The United States carried out additional small-scale strikes in Yemen on Friday night, officials told CNN.
