A vigil at Manhattan’s Union Square to remember the 1,200 Jews killed during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel three years ago was thrown into chaos Wednesday when pro-Palestinian demonstrators swarmed the plaza, squared off with mourners and blasted Mayor Mamdani, who briefly attended the service.
Waving Palestinian flags and screaming “Normalize the intifada!” and “There is only one solution… Revolution!” more than 200 pro-Gaza demonstrators began taking over the seats set aside for attendees at the 7 p.m. vigil.
There were four times as many protesters as the 50 who attended the vigil, which was organized by Israelis for Peace, who have repeatedly demanded an end to the ongoing assault on Gaza.
Although the event was briefly sidelined, mourners lit candles and held signs reading “Not one more life” as they faced off against Palestinian protesters. Speakers tried their best to read texts and emails from survivors and relatives of victims of the Hamas attack.
Comptroller Brad Lander was cursed out by the protesters as he stood with vigil attendees.
Mayor Mandani, who was scheduled to attend but not speak, showed up with Public Advocate Jumaane Williams about an hour after the program started — only to be jeered by the pro-Palestinian demonstrators, who felt he was siding with supporters of Israel.
“Zohran, you can’t hide! We charge you with genocide!” Palestinian demonstrators screamed over and over. “Mamdani, what do you say? How many boots did you lick today?”
Mamdani, holding an electric candle, stood stone-faced as he listened at the vigil and shook hands and embraced speakers who were drowned out by pro-Gaza demonstrators.
After the texts and emails were read, Jewish religious leaders tried to address the crowd, but were again drowned out by the demonstrators’ sound system.
Within an hour, Mamdani was hustled back to his car. Pro-Gaza protesters tried to swarm him, but were held back by police as he made a hasty getaway. Protesters tried to chase after the car, which sped off.
No violence occurred at Union Square, and no arrests were immediately made at the Wednesday night protest and the earlier protest by City Hall, an NYPD spokeswoman said.
The Mayor was expected to end the night meeting with Palestinian New Yorkers at a private event, according to his schedule.
Tamar Glezerman, a co-founder of Israelis for Peace who lost his aunt in the Oct. 7 attack, organized the vigil for Jewish New Yorkers to mourn those lost on Oct. 7 and demand an end to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
“(The attack) quickly became a horrible war of revenge, and quickly after that, what we define along with international scholars as a genocide,” said Glezerman, who hoped that Mamdani listened carefully to the eulogies and texts that were read.
“This is not a political event. There are people in charge, there are people that made decisions that brought us here,” he said. “It is an event of grief, and is an event of honoring the dead without omitting the horrific retaliation that followed.”
Mamdani faces criticism from both Jewish and Palestinian New Yorkers who each feel the Mayor isn’t supporting their side in the ongoing Middle East controversy.
He has faced intense criticism from prominent Jewish groups, who have said his rhetoric about Israel fuels growing antisemitism. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has leveled sharp attacks against Mamdani, particularly over the mayor’s assertion that the government’s actions in Gaza constitute a genocide.
Some critics on the left have also claimed the mayor has betrayed the pro-Palestine cause by allowing a “buffer zone” bill targeting areas around houses of worship to become law and by forming a “Strategy to Combat Antisemitism” report.
New waves of criticism came crashing down on Mamdani Wednesday when he called the anniversary of the Oct. 7 terror attacks in Israel a “profoundly painful” day for many New Yorkers while also criticizing Israel for carrying out what he called a “genocide” in Gaza.
