NEW YORK — Several thousand protesters rallied against Israel in New York City on Saturday, in the largest pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protest held in the city in recent months.
The demonstration, dubbed “Stop Starving Gaza: Mass March for Humanity,” took place in front of the New York Public Library in Manhattan, next to Bryant Park, and was organized by an array of Arab-led and far-left socialist activist groups.
The crowd beat spoons against pans and held signs demanding to “Stop starving Gaza,” Stop killing journalists,” and “Defeat imperialist/Zionist genocidal war-makers.”
Palestinian flags waved above the crowds of people as they marched, chanting “End the siege on Gaza now!”
Brian Becker, of the far-left Answer Coalition, told the crowd that “the US government is standing with the fascist regime in Tel Aviv, but we, the American people, stand with you, the Palestinian people.”
“They’re in Wall Street, they’re in the White House, they’re in the center of imperialism,” Becker said.
Some in the crowd answered with shouts of “shame” and “murderers.”
People gather during an anti-Israel protest at Bryant Park, in New York, on August 16, 2025. (Leonardo Munoz / AFP)
The rally appeared to be the largest since the arrest of pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil in March mobilized several thousand protesters.
Khalil, who was released from a federal detention center in June, took part in Saturday’s protest and addressed the crowds outside the public library.
Israel is destroying Gaza “systematically, deliberately,” he declared to cheers of support. “And they’re doing it with American bombs, with American cover, with American tax money — your money.”
Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil takes part in the ‘Stand with Gaza’ protest at Bryant Park in New York on August 16, 2025. (Leonardo Munoz / AFP)
Khalil, who has justified October 7 and downplayed campus antisemitism, then led the crowd as it set off on a march through midtown Manhattan.
In the days leading up to Saturday’s protest, organizers said it was being backed by more than 200 groups from around the US, and that they would be busing in participants from six states and Washington DC.
Leading groups signed onto the protest included far-left outfits such as the People’s Forum, ANSWER Coalition, the Democratic Socialists of America and CodePink, Arab-led groups including the Palestinian Youth Movement, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Arab American Association of New York, as well as the anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace and various student groups.
There had been a decrease in major anti-Israel street protests in New York in recent months, but activists have begun a series of regular rallies ahead of the United Nations General Assembly that will take place in the city in September.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
