Al Quds Day in New York: a weak turnout
i24NEWS ·
Live from New York for i24NEWS, at the Al Quds Day rally, the "Jerusalem Day" established by Iran in the late 1970s. "Very weak turnout": only a few dozen people. The gathering originally marked the end of Ramadan and the distribution of food to worshippers, but it has become politicized in recent years, notably on the initiative of BDS activists. This year it takes the form of a march meant to end in front of Israel's consulate in New York, closed since noon for Shabbat, so the message will not reach the authorities. Pro-Palestinian symbols, anti-Zionist banners that are vehement toward Israel, and also toward Donald Trump, blamed by the demonstrators for moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and slogans such as "Palestine from the river to the sea", "which implies the disappearance of the State of Israel." David Benaym recalls that in the United States the First Amendment lets everyone chant what they want as long as there is no physical violence. A fairly young crowd, from the campuses, for "a very noisy, very political and angry mobilization", but nothing like the solidarity marches with Israel that filled the streets of Manhattan the week before. Correspondence by David Benaym on i24NEWS in French, June 9, 2018.