Pro-Palestinian protesters arrested outside Chuck Schumer's office in New York City
Tiffany Caban, a New York City council member, and Claire Valdez, a state representative, were among those arrested. Demonstrators were seen banging together pots and pans, a form of noise protest.
The protest at Schumer's office was one of several such demonstrations that took place in major US cities Friday.
'We are calling on them to let aid in, to stop the bombing and allow aid into the Palestinian people of Gaza right now,' Jay Saper, a Jewish Voice for Peace spokesperson, told the New York Post. 'This starvation crisis in Gaza is at a tipping point, and so we have to raise our voices.'
Elsewhere in New York City, there was a demonstration outside the Egyptian Consulate aimed at highlighting Egypt's role in Gaza's border policy. At least five people were reportedly detained after activists chained themselves to New York City's Egyptian Mission to the United Nations.
According to a post by Palestinian Assembly for Liberation, who organized the demonstration, the protest's goal was to 'demand the government of Egypt cease its collaboration' with Israel – which it accused of being a 'genocidal Zionist regime' and 'put an end to the manufactured famine of Palestinians in Gaza'.
In Los Angeles, activists were holding another pots and pans protest. 'Families face famine and children are dying of malnutrition,' the group Koreatown for Palestine wrote on social media. 'We will make the people of Koreatown hear the sound of starvation in Gaza.'
Several other protests were planned for Friday evening in major US cities, including Arlington, Texas; Newark, New Jersey; Houston, Texas; Boise, Idaho; Portland, Oregon; West Hartford, Connecticut; Baltimore, Maryland, and San Jose, California.
On Thursday, protesters targeted the New York Times headquarters in Manhattan, writing the words 'NYT lies, Gaza dies' in bold white lettering on the side of the building. There was also red paint smeared over the Times logo.
Some in US cities have continually held organized protests voicing support for a ceasefire in Gaza nearly two years into the military campaign that Israel launched there in response to Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack.
Some cities have hosted weekly Palestine vigils since late 2023. In some locations, organizers are also using these gatherings to provide legal support for protesters facing arrest or disciplinary actions on campuses.
The campus-based movement in support of Gaza, once centered around encampments in spring 2024, has led to a year-long legal back-and-forth between Donald Trump's administration and several institutions, which began with the president accusing the schools of allowing antisemitism to go unchecked on campuses amid protests of Israel's military strikes in Gaza.
At Columbia University, school officials have disciplined more than 80 students for their involvement in protests, including expulsions, suspensions and revoked degrees. Columbia recently announced a deal with the Trump administration to pay more than $220m to release funding, which Trump froze because of what he described as the university's failure to squelch antisemitism.
In protest of the university's compliance with the Trump administration, historian Rashid Khalidi has canceled his fall 2025 lecture course, saying in a letter published by the Guardian that the deal 'constitutes the antithesis of academic freedom'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BreakingNews.ie
4 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
President Higgins calls footage of emaciated Hamas hostages a 'shocking act of cruelty'
President Michael D Higgins has condemned footage which shows the emaciated bodies of two hostages taken on October 7th. In a statement released earlier on Sunday, Mr Higgins said: 'The presentation of the emaciated bodies of two hostages taken on October 7th is a shocking act of cruelty and reflects not only on those responsible for such actions but damages any cause to which they attach themselves. Advertisement "We are now in a position of seeing the nadir of human behaviour with images like these occurring at the same time as children are deprived of medicine and mothers are deprived of water and the necessary means of addressing malnutrition as they watch their children die. "All of these actions must not just receive the opprobrium of the world, but must lead to practical actions that cannot wait until September to be addressed." President Higgins said he hopes that Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter may provide a mechanism for ensuring safe access of aid in the region. The news comes as US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy told families of hostages being held by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Saturday that he was working with the Israeli government on a plan that would effectively end the war in Gaza. Advertisement Trump has made ending the conflict a major priority of his administration, though negotiations have faltered. Steve Witkoff is visiting Israel as its government faces mounting pressure over the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the enclave. In a recording of the meeting, reviewed by Reuters, Witkoff is heard saying: "We have a very, very good plan that we're working on collectively with the Israeli government, with Prime Minister Netanyahu ... for the reconstruction of Gaza. That effectively means the end of the war." The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his remarks. Witkoff also said that Hamas was prepared to disarm in order to end the war, though the group has repeatedly said it will not lay down its weapons. Advertisement In response, Hamas, which has dominated Gaza since 2007 but has been militarily battered by Israel in the war, said it would not relinquish "armed resistance" unless an "independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital" was established. Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel aimed at securing a 60-day ceasefire in the Gaza war and deal for the release of half the hostages ended last week in deadlock. On Saturday, Hamas released its second video in two days of Israeli hostage Evyatar David. In it, David, skeletally thin, is shown digging a hole, which, he says in the video, is for his own grave. "They are on the absolute brink of death," David's brother Ilay said at a rally in support of the hostages in Tel Aviv, where thousands gathered holding posters of those in captivity and chanted for their immediate release. Advertisement "In the current unimaginable condition, they may have only days left to live." Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa'ar said the "world cannot remain silent in the face of the difficult images that are the result of deliberate sadistic abuse of the hostages, which also includes starvation". Witkoff, who arrived in Israel with Benjamin Netanyahu's government facing a global outcry over the devastation in Gaza and the starvation growing among its 2.2 million people, met the prime minister on Thursday. Afterwards, a senior Israeli official said an understanding between Israel and Washington was emerging that there was a need to move from a plan to release some of the hostages to a plan to release all the hostages, disarm Hamas and demilitarise the Gaza Strip, echoing Israel's key demands for ending the war. Advertisement On Tuesday, Qatar and Egypt, who are mediating ceasefire efforts, endorsed a declaration by France and Saudi Arabia outlining steps toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As part of it, they said Hamas must hand over its arms to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority. The crisis in Gaza has also prompted a string of Western powers to announce they may recognise a Palestinian state. On Friday, Witkoff visited a US backed aid operation in southern Gaza, which the United Nations has partly blamed for deadly conditions in the enclave, saying he sought to get food and other aid to people there. Dozens have died of malnutrition in recent weeks after Israel cut off all supplies to the enclave for nearly three months from March to May, according to Gaza's health ministry. It said on Saturday that it had recorded seven more fatalities, including a child, since Friday. Ireland Hilary Weston, businesswoman who helped build Penn... Read More Israel blames Hamas for the suffering in Gaza and says it is taking steps for more aid to reach its population, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas, air drops and announcing protected routes for aid convoys. The Gaza war began when Hamas killed more than 1,200 people and took 251 hostage in an attack on southern Israel on October 7th, 2023, according to Israeli figures. Israel's offensive has since killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, only 20 of whom are believed to be alive. Additional reporting Reuters
The Independent
33 minutes ago
- The Independent
White House boasts about Trump's golf score – days after he was accused of cheating on his own course
The White House on Saturday posted President Donald Trump 's winning golf score from a tournament at his New Jersey golf club, boasting about his win just days after he was accused of cheating on another course. 'Winning on and off the course,' the official White House Instagram page wrote, showing the final score card from the 2025 Men's Senior Club Championship tournament at Trump National in Bedminster. At the top of the card was Trump's gross score of 69 – representing the number of golf strokes the president took on each hole in the tournament. Adjusted with his handicap, the numerical measure of how well a person golfs by either adding or deducting strokes from the gross score, Trump's net score was 67. The score means the president has a handicap of around 2, which is considered very impressive for a non-professional golfer. But a number of commenters on the Instagram post did not appear excited about the president's score, many joking that just last week, reports accused Trump of cheating on his golf course in Scotland. 'Yo we saw the video from Scotland last week, he just throws the ball where he wants it and makes up a score,' one commenter wrote. 'I mean yeah, I'd win too if my caddy was dropping balls on the course for me,' another Instagram user wrote on the post. While on a trip to Scotland in July, a widely-circulated video of the president golfing at his course in Turnberry appeared to insinuate that Trump cheats at his beloved game. The president's caddy appeared to drop Trump's ball closer to the fairway – which some interpreted as a violation of the rules of golf, which generally says to play the ball where it lies. Allegations that Trump cheats at golf date back to before his first term. Some have accused him of using his caddies or Secret Service detail to move his ball. Others claim the president himself has kicked his ball to make it easier to hit. Trump has always denied the allegations. The cheating allegations have been so rampant that one sports writer, Rick Reilly, even wrote an entire book on it, titled Commander in Cheat. In response to the president's recent win, Reilly wrote on X, 'The 4 guys in Trump's group finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th. Trump has a magic pencil. #CommanderInCheat' However, some professionals who have played alongside the president say he is actually quite a good golfer. Jack Nicklaus, a hall-of-fame golfer, said in 2020 that Trump plays 'pretty well.' Tom Watson, a former professional golfer, said in 2017 that the president was a good hitter and 'can really get the ball out there.' Trump is passionate about golf; he famously played often during his first term in office and continues to play often now. According to a website that tracks the number of golf trips the president takes, he's golfed approximately 49 out of the 196 days he's been in office. Earlier this year, Trump said he won the golf club championship at his golf club in Palm Beach, Florida, as well.
The Independent
33 minutes ago
- The Independent
Flares thrown during protest outside Canary Wharf hotel housing asylum seekers
Flares have been let off and an arrest made during a demonstration outside a hotel used to accommodate asylum seekers in London. A mixture of men wearing face masks and families with children waved flags and listened to speeches outside the Britannia International Hotel in Canary Wharf on Sunday. Protesters jeered at people going in and out of the hotel, and officers were forced to step in after flares were let off in the crowd, the Metropolitan Police said. A man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker after an officer was pushed. Onlookers chanted 'shame' towards the police as he was carried away. Tourists, shoppers and guests at a nearby hotel stopped to take pictures of the demonstration. A spokesperson for the Met said: 'At one point, officers intervened after flares were let off in the crowd. Several people were searched. No further flares were found. 'One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker after an officer was pushed. He was taken into custody. 'Officers remain in the area to provide reassurance to local residents and businesses, to ensure that any further protest takes place peacefully, and to respond to any incidents.' It is the latest in a series of demonstrations over the use of hotels to house asylum seekers. On Saturday, the force made nine arrests after rival groups gathered outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in Islington, north London. A protest and counter-protest also took place outside the New Bridge Hotel in Newcastle and four people were arrested on suspicion of public order offences, Northumbria Police said. Scotland Yard said plans were in place to 'respond to any protest activity in the vicinity of other hotels in London being used to accommodate asylum seekers'. Elsewhere, Essex Police placed a number of restrictions on a planned protest in Epping on Sunday evening. The force ordered that the demonstration should finish by 8.30pm and must take place in designated areas outside the Bell Hotel, which has been the focus of a series of protests over the last few weeks. Police have also placed requirements on the removal of face coverings until 3am on Monday and have the power to direct anyone committing or suspected of committing anti-social behaviour to leave the area until 8am on Monday.
