Gaza cease-fire protests in New York block bridges, and over 300 arrested

January 8, 2024 Philip Marcelo, Associated Press

Protestors block Brooklyn Bridge during a pro-Palestinian demonstration demanding a cease-fire in the Israel-Palestinian conflict on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024, in New York. AP Photo/Andres Kudacki

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Hundreds of protesters calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war were able to block traffic at major bridges and a tunnel leading into New York City on Monday, disrupting the morning rush hour and leading to more than 300 arrests.

A steady stream of demonstrations have broken out in cities across the United States and in other countries during the three-month Israel-Hamas war, often in high-profile public areas or key transpiration hubs.

Police make arrests as protesters block Brooklyn Bridge during a pro-Palestinian demonstration demanding the cease-fire on the Israel-Palestinian conflict on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024, in New York. AP Photo/Andres Kudacki

Chanting and holding anti-war signs, protesters on Monday sat in roadways and locked themselves together using zip ties and even cement-filled tires, which required officers to use power tools at times to pry the demonstrators apart.

The New York Police Department said 325 people were arrested, with many facing misdemeanor charges.

Many had gathered at City Hall Plaza at around 9 a.m. before marching to the protest sites at the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges as well as the Holland Tunnel to New Jersey.

Arrested protesters line up after they blocked Brooklyn Bridge during a pro-Palestinian demonstration demanding the cease-fire on the Israel-Palestinian conflict on Monday, Jan. 8, 2024, in New York. AP Photo/Andres Kudacki

Protest organizers included the Palestinian Youth Movement and Jewish-led groups long opposed to Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians, such as Jewish Voice for Peace.

The groups said they want to see a permanent cease-fire and an end to the U.S. government’s arming of the Israel, among other things.

“By blocking the city’s exits, the protesters created—briefly, imperfectly—a physical analogue for the situation in Gaza, where there is no getting out,” the groups wrote in a statement following the protests.

At a news briefing Monday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he understood “the pain of innocent lives being lost right now,” but questioned the tactics used by pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

“The right to protest does not give one the right to block bridges and tunnels, as we saw this morning,” Adams said. “The goal is to peacefully protest without doing major disruption to the city.”

The Holland Tunnel reopened around 10:30 a.m., and the last of the protests dispersed shortly before 11:30 a.m., the NYPD said on X, formerly Twitter.

On Saturday, protesters blocked freeway traffic in Seattle for several hours. Previously in New York City, demonstrations have taken place outside John F. Kennedy International Airport as well as inside Grand Central Terminal.

More than 23,000 Palestinians have been killed — about two-thirds of them women and children — and more than 58,000 wounded since the war began on Oct. 7 with Hamas’ attack into southern Israel. That incursion killed around 1,200 people, and Palestinian militants took some 250 hostages into Gaza.