Pro-Palestine protester scales statue in Union Square, removed by cops
Protesters with the group Within Our Lifetime gathered at Cadman Plaza West in downtown Brooklyn around 4 p.m. before marching across the Brooklyn Bridge to their final destination at Union Square, where they arrived around 7 p.m.
About 500 people were still at the park when an unidentified man climbed to the top of the 26-foot statue of George Washington on the south side of the park and shouted 'I'm not coming down until there's peace in the Middle East, peace in Ukraine and peace in India!'
'I want peace in the world!' he declared.
The man continued shouting while clinging to the founding father's head until police emergency services went up in a cherry picker forklift and wrestled him off the statue.
The man did not address the crowd after cops brought him down and placed him in a waiting police vehicle.
'He said it was his birthday,' an officer who spoke to the man told the Daily News. 'Funny way to celebrate.'
Earlier in the protest, police arrested seven people, a source told The News. The NYPD could not immediately confirm the arrests.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
4 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
S.F. school district to teachers: Your political opinions don't belong in the classroom
Days before the start of classes, San Francisco school leaders reminded teachers that they can't express political opinions during the school day, including in what they say, wear or what they put on their walls. District officials encouraged principals to reinforce those restrictions as educators and staff participated in back-to-school training this week. The guidance follows a divisive battle last school year over accusations of political activism among educators in city schools, particularly in ethnic studies courses. Controversial activities included teachers encouraging students to write letters to Mumia Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther sentenced to death in 1981 for murdering a Philadelphia police officer, or asking them to participate in anti-Israel protests. In other cases, teachers hung pro-Palestinian posters in classrooms, or described Israel as colonizers committing genocide. While the laws and policies are not new, they have been often ignored or absent from staff training sessions. District officials, last year, gave principals the materials to train staff on bias and personal opinions, but it was unclear how many used them. This year, one veteran teacher said it was the first such training in their career. 'Many teachers have been dangerously misled about their professional freedoms and responsibilities,' the educator said. 'K-12 teachers don't have the same academic freedoms as university instructors. Our students are minor children.' The district's teachers union, which has taken a pro-Palestinian stance and has advocated for teachers who wish to speak out about the war in Gaza, did not immediately return requests for comment about the training. In February, officials from the union wrote in a pro-Palestinian resolution that 'educators who utilized their democratic rights to speak out against the war were repressed or harassed by school authorities.' In recent years, Bay Area schools have seen an uptick in politically motivated instruction and the opinions of staff and educators publicly displayed. That has included student walkouts, bolstered by teachers and their unions, as well as posters and staff clothing reflecting beliefs, including candidates, government policies and the war in Gaza. Accusations of antisemitism, Islamophobia and other forms of harassment in schools have grown specifically since the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel in and the retaliatory bombing of Gaza, with hundreds of official complaints filed at the district, state and federal level. District officials said the most recent training was proactive and not punitive and aimed to help staff navigate complex and sensitive topics in a way that aligns with state law and school board policies. 'If parents or students see something they are concerned about they should contact their principal,' said district spokesperson Laura Dudnick. 'When concerns arise, we follow a clear process for reviewing them that is consistent with labor agreements and Board policy.' State education law requires an education free of harassment and bias and equal access to learning regardless of race, religion, national origin or other protected status. But that has been broadly interpreted across public schools in San Francisco and the Bay Area and, at times, rarely enforced. In the spring, San Francisco Superintendent Maria Su vowed to address the issue following community concerns raised specifically about ethnic studies courses and, more broadly, antisemitic content and harassment amid pro-Palestinian activism. 'Teaching should be about teaching students how to think,' not what to think,' she said in June. Su decided to suspend the district's homegrown ethnic studies curriculum, which critics said was divisive, antisemitic and promoted progressive activism. The board in July purchased an off-the-shelf replacement to be used for the year-long required ethnic studies course for ninth graders. In addition, Su is expected to issue an administrative order regarding the use of supplemental materials used by teachers to ensure they adhere to state and district guidelines. The training materials given to principals also notes that employees cannot solicit students or families to further their ideological persuasions or use district resources, including district email, to communicate or advocate for their political opinions. 'Students should be challenged in their coursework and schools should provide a safe and rigorous experience where they can express their thinking and listen to others,' said school board President Phil Kim. 'Our whole job here as educators is to create the conditions for all of that to take place. 'This is what I come back to: What is our responsibility as educators?' he said. 'It's not about us. It's about the kids.'
Fox News
4 hours ago
- Fox News
Netanyahu indicates he's open to a ceasefire deal that would return all of his country's hostages
Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst reports on efforts to secure a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas on 'Special Report.'
New York Post
6 hours ago
- New York Post
Palestine statehood is a cruel fiction, Democrats need a new agenda ASAP and other commentary
Foreign desk: Palestine Statehood = Cruel Fiction The history of Palestinian terrorism does not by itself make 'subsequent recognition of statehood impossible,' observes Philip Cunliffe at Compact, but the real question is 'what is it that is being recognized?' We can't ignore the 'brute fact that there is no independent Palestine to recognize.' Gaza 'has been reduced to ruins' while the 'West Bank is honeycombed with Israeli settlements.' Hamas, the putative power in Gaza, is 'cowering in tunnels.' Offering 'the mirage of statehood' under these conditions is 'worse than a mistake; it is to trade in illusions.' Advertisement While the Palestinian diplomatic class will 'enjoy the hospitality at international conferences,' statehood 'will do nothing for ordinary Palestinians.' Violence that erects fictional states 'is not only morally reprehensible but also politically futile.' Pollsters: Democrats Need New Agenda ASAP Wall Journal Journal polling shows 'Trump's approval rating is 6 points underwater,' and Kaiser Family Foundation surveys find 'nearly two-thirds (63 percent) hold an unfavorable view' of the president's 'big, beautiful bill.' Advertisement Yet congressional Democrats loudly assailed 'large-scale cuts to social and healthcare programs without offering a coherent agenda or alternative,' lament Douglas Schoen & Carly Cooperman at The Hill. 'To have any chance of taking at least one chamber of Congress, Democrats need a new agenda' that addresses 'immigration, the economy, education, and energy policy.' Remember: 'The centrist, forward-looking agenda put forward by former President Bill Clinton pulled the party out of the political wilderness.' A similar 'middle-of-the-road agenda' can 'save Democrats today.' From the right: Zohran's Coddled Lefty Base Advertisement Zohran Mamdani's 'dreams of turning America's capitalist engine into a national beacon of entitlement' are selling because 'New York is now a city with hundreds of thousands of little Zohran Mamdanis,' fumes Tablet's Armin Rosen. While 'New York has gotten more right-wing' in recent years, 'the city's much more numerous liberals have polarized in the other direction.' And much of Mamdani's support comes from 'young and often childless transplanted degree holders living off public or family subsidies,' who are either 'insulated from the consequences of urban decline' or think leftism is the solution. 'Mamdani's impending victory' is the result 'of the slow death of New York's pragmatic and productive middle class' and the rise of a new class of city dwellers who enable 'an activist government' to experiment on society. Advertisement Get opinions and commentary from our columnists Subscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter! Thanks for signing up! Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Never miss a story. Check out more newsletters Space beat: Wonders of a Nuclear Moon Base As NASA's new interim head, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy just 'directed the agency to put a 100-kilowatt nuclear reactor on the moon by decade's end,' cheers Ross Andersen at The Atlantic. 'This is not a lark. If humanity means to establish a permanent settlement on the moon, nuclear power will almost certainly be essential to its operation. And a lunar base may well be the most wondrous achievement in space exploration that people reading this will see during their lifetime.' Just imagine: 'an astronomer at a lunar base,' peering out 'from a porthole, seeing the Earth shining in the sky,' while a crater-sized radio dish on the other side — 'a giant ear' — listens for 'messages from other Earths' and beyond. Conservative: Academia's Smug Lawlessness 'American universities act with impunity' in 'breaking the law' to engage in 'race-based hiring,' reports John Sailer at City Journal. It's an 'open secret' that schools 'engage in preferential treatment' in hiring, such as 'prioritizing candidates' from 'underrepresented groups.' A recent memo from Attorney General Pam Bondi 'singles out the use of 'unlawful proxies' ' in hiring, or 'workarounds' such as 'diversity statements' that 'advantage applicants' who 'discuss experiences intrinsically tied to protected characteristics.' Advertisement Universities have 'long used such criteria as racial and ideological proxies in faculty hiring,' and thereby 'have developed ready-made career paths for scholars who share a commitment to social justice.' Bondi's guidance, properly enforced, will create a 'massive reckoning' for American universities that continue to violate a 'longstanding principle' of anti-discrimination law. — Compiled by The Post Editorial Board
