In a disturbing display of anti-Semitic sentiment, a large group of pro-Palestinian activists descended upon the esteemed Park East Synagogue in Manhattan on Wednesday evening.
The crowd, which was protesting a Jewish immigration event held within the synagogue, chanted incendiary phrases such as "Globalize the intifada," "Death to the IDF," and "take another settler out." Critics have warned that this is merely the tip of the iceberg in a climate of radicalization under the incoming socialist Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.
The demonstration was organized by several anti-Israel groups, including Pal-Awda New York and New Jersey, Within Our Lifetime, and Jewish Voice for Peace New York. As reported by Breitbart, the event was promoted as a protest against what they labeled as a "settler recruiting fair," with the synagogue's program being branded as a "settler recruiting" event.
The activists, in a show of radical pro-Palestinian sentiment, beat drums and chanted inflammatory slogans such as "Resistance is glorious," "Intifada revolution," "No peace on stolen land," and "From New York to Gaza, globalize the intifada." Placards held by the protesters bore messages like "Zionism is a death cult" and "No settlers on stolen land."
The crowd's hostility was palpable, with attendees entering and exiting the synagogue being heckled at close quarters. A protest leader incited the crowd, stating, "It is our duty to make them think twice before holding these events, we need to make them scared." This statement was echoed by the activists present.
The New York Police Department was on the scene, deploying officers and metal barricades to separate the protesters from a smaller group of Jewish counter-protesters. The counter-protesters retaliated with shofars and whistles, shining flashlights at the crowd, and shouting back, "You are cowards" and "Stop protesting at a synagogue." The police reported that the protest was permitted and no arrests were made.
Cantor Benny Rogosnitzky, who serves as both the cantor of Park East Synagogue and the director of the Rabbi Arthur Schneier Park East Day School, described the scene as "very disturbing." He noted that the protesters were shouting phrases such as "Kill the Jews," "Destroy Israel," and "No Jews in America." He expressed the community's deep concern over the language used and the decision to target a synagogue.
The protest sparked a wave of shocked reactions from rabbis, clergy, commentators, activists, and elected officials. They likened the protest to the chilling atmosphere of the 1930s and warned of the potential implications of the "new Mamdani era in New York."
Rabbi Elchanan Poupko, who first posted a video of the protest, wrote that "antisemites showed up outside Park East Synagogue and are chanting for intifada." He emphasized that the synagogue's senior rabbi, a Holocaust survivor, was witnessing "the same human material" outside his own shul. Rabbi Poupko insisted that "this is not about Gaza and has never been about Gaza," and that the demonstration was an attack on the Jewish people.
Rev. Jordan Wells, a New York pastor who shared further footage, noted that the rabbi inside the synagogue "was a child when Kristallnacht happened" and is now "forced to hear the same hatred, the same bloodlust, outside his own synagogue." Rev. Wells concluded that the crowd represented "the same ancient virus, now wearing a keffiyeh instead of a brown shirt."
Conservative radio host Mark Levin reacted to images of the scene by saying simply that it "looks like nineteen thirties Germany."
Rabbi Poupko, in an extended message to the demonstrators, compared them to brownshirts who went from being "lonely, economically and socially broken individuals" to feeling powerful outside Jewish stores in Berlin. He warned that "antisemitism is a sweet poison pill, it feels good at the moment and the price comes only later."
The World Jewish Congress described the protest outside Park East as producing scenes "eerily reminiscent of Kristallnacht." They emphasized that the synagogue's longtime senior rabbi, a witness to Kristallnacht and a veteran WJC leader, "knows better than anyone where this kind of hatred can lead," and insisted such scenes "have no place on the streets of New York."
The civil-rights group EndJewHatred called the demonstration "a blatant violation of Jews civil right to attend their house of worship in peace." They argued that in the current climate, "being an anti-Zionist means targeting Jews at synagogues" and stressed that "intifada" is "an open call for violence against Jews worldwide."
House Republican Leadership Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, a New York Republican who recently announced she will challenge Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2026, charged that "this is Kathy Hochuls New York." She accused the governor of endorsing "a raging antisemite" for mayor of New York City, thereby "putting Jewish families at risk."
Democrat Rep. Ritchie Torres of New York underscored the meaning of the chants, noting that demonstrators outside Park East were invoking "intifada," a term tied to a campaign of terror that killed more than a thousand Israeli civilians and children. Torres said, "the deliberate invocation of intifada, especially in a post October seventh world, is an unmistakable incitement to violence against Jews," stressing that targeting a synagogue "is not criticism, it is extremism, it is discrimination."
British commentator Melanie Phillips said that "screaming for the death of Jews outside a synagogue" was something few believed could happen in New York and declared that "the Mamdani era has already begun," warning that "Islam is rising in America."
New York City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino wrote that "the Mamdani Effect is just getting started, and Jews are in for a bad time," adding that "we bought the ticket, now we are going to take the ride, God help us all."
Former United States Deputy Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Ellie Cohanim highlighted that Park East is a synagogue in New York City, home to the largest Jewish population in America, and said the images outside show "what Jewish life looks like under the Democrats," urging voters to "vote accordingly."
American Jewish Committee Chief Executive Officer Ted Deutch called the rally "disgusting," saying that antisemites screaming, "Death to the IDF" and "globalize the intifada" are issuing "a call to violence against Jewish people," and urged "every leader, including every politician," to condemn such rhetoric "unequivocally and forcefully."
Lisa Katz, chief government affairs officer at the Combat Antisemitism Movement, said the protest was the latest example of "the growing normalization of antisemitic intimidation and incitement in American society," warning that calls to "globalize the intifada" and praise for "resistance" are "direct violent threats to a New York City Jewish community already facing unprecedented levels of antisemitic hostility."
Outgoing New York City Mayor Eric Adams condemned the demonstration as "totally unacceptable no matter your faith or background," warning that "when you desecrate one house of worship, you desecrate them all," and pledged to visit Park East Synagogue once he returns to the city.
A spokesperson for Mayor-elect Mamdani told reporter Matthew Kassel that the mayor-elect "has discouraged the language used at last nights protest and will continue to do so," a comment that drew scrutiny from Jewish leaders who noted Mamdani repeatedly refused during the campaign to call "globalize the intifada" antisemitic until he faced sustained backlash.
As Breitbart News reported, Adams recently used a trip to Israel to warn that "if I were a Jewish New Yorker I would be concerned about my children," describing a cultural shift in which "it is now cool and hip to be antisemitic" and recounting that a teenager in Brownsville demanded Israels destruction despite being unable to locate the country on a map.
Mamdani, a longtime supporter of the BDS campaign and a former co-founder of a Students for Justice in Palestine chapter during his college years, has pledged not to visit Israel as mayor and has said he would "exhaust every legal option" to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits New York City.
In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, former Hamas insider Mosab Hassan Yousef, widely known as the son of Hamas, warned that Mamdani functions as a Trojan horse for a coordinated red-green alliance of radical leftist and Islamist forces seeking to undermine Western capitalism and transform Americas largest city. Veteran Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf similarly cautioned that Mamdanis victory could mark what he described as "the end of Jewish New York as we know it."
According to data, antisemitic incidents nationwide rose by more than 200 percent between 2021 and 2023, with New York City recording nearly 1,000 incidents in 2024 the highest figure ever documented for any American city since systematic tracking began. Jewish leaders say protests that bring intifada chants to synagogue doors will be an early test of whether the incoming Mamdani administration is prepared to protect their right to worship in safety.
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