Hamas Flags Waved at 'Rally to Defend Bay Ridge' in Brooklyn, Protestors Chant: 'We Don't Want No Zionists Here!' Activist Raja Abdulhaq: Gaza Has Shown Us the Way for Resistance - We Need to Reinvent
Hamas flags were raised at the 'rally to defend Bay Ridge and Palestine' that was held in front of the Islamic Society of By Ridge, Brooklyn on February 26, 2025, and some participants wore Hamas headbands. Abdullah Akl, and employee of MAS Staten Island Center, who spoke on behalf of Within Our Lifetime, said that 'Zionism is an enemy to people, here and across all the world.' Malik Hassan, the executive director of MAS Youth Center led a chant: 'The Zionist is the enemy of Allah!' Hassan has participated in the anti-Israel encampment in Columbia University in April 2024. Another chant leader was Mahmoud Kasem, owner of the local Al-Aqsa Bakery. Raja Abdulhaq, the co-founder of Quds News Network and a frequent speaker at MAS centers in New York, urged participants to follow the sacrifice and resistance of the people of Gaza. 'Um Obeida,' an activist dressed in military fatigues and a keffiyeh face covering - in the style of Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades' spokesman Abu Obeida - waved a Hamas flag. A female representative of CAIR NY also spoke at the rally. The rally broke up for prayer at the Islamic Society of Bay Ridge twice throughout the evening, and a man sporting an Abu Obeida hoody and Hamas headband was seen praying inside the mosque. The rally was organized by Within Our Lifetime, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) NY, PAL-Awda, Muslim American Society (MAS) New York, Palestinian Youth Movement, Mamas 4 a Free Palestine, and others.
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