Professional-Palestinian and pro-Israel activists confronted off in Queens on Thursday evening outdoors a synagogue that was internet hosting an occasion selling actual property gross sales in a Jewish metropolis within the West Financial institution.
However efforts by the NYPD largely ensured that the 2 teams didn’t come shut to one another, and that the pro-Palestinian protesters couldn’t come to shut to individuals attending the occasion, both.
Whereas the pro-Palestinian protesters have been saved behind boundaries down the road from the synagogue, Anita Dayan, a 48-year-old Orthodox Jewish Kew Gardens Hills resident, cried as she walked in entrance of them on her approach to the occasion.
“It makes me really feel scared, and it makes me really feel unhappy,” mentioned Dayan. “I’m elevating my youngsters right here nonetheless, and it simply makes me surprise what our future is right here.”
The handfuls of cops on the scene additionally rapidly shaped a barrier when a big group of younger Jewish males arrived because the pro-Palestinian protesters have been dispersing.
Police type a barrier between pro-Palestinian protesters and a gaggle of younger males with Israeli flags in Kew Gardens Hills on Jan. 8, 2026. (Grace Gilson)
The occasions outdoors Younger Israel of Kew Backyard Hills marked the primary main pro-Palestinian protest within the metropolis since Zohran Mamdani, who opposes Israel, was sworn in as mayor final week.
Jewish leaders within the metropolis had expressed concern about Mamdani’s response to a December protest outdoors Park East Synagogue by which individuals in search of to attend an occasion about shifting to Israel needed to go near demonstrators who have been shouting at them and yelling insults.
On the time, Mamdani reiterated his vow to maintain all New Yorkers secure however added that “sacred areas shouldn’t be used to advertise actions in violation of worldwide legislation.”
His response fueled calls from lawmakers and elected officers to create “buffer zones” limiting protests immediately outdoors homes of worship. Gov. Kathy Hochul mentioned this week that she plans to announce state laws, and newly elected Metropolis Council Speaker Julie Menin, who’s Jewish, has mentioned the council would transfer to enact comparable laws.
However no new legal guidelines have been in place on Thursday evening when PAL-Awda, the group that staged the December protest, led to 100 demonstrators to Queens. Some Jewish neighborhood teams had urged towards a counter-protest, fearing violence, however round 100 pro-Israel demonstrators turned up as properly. The NYPD blocked roads round Younger Israel and saved each units
Nonetheless, the incident proved disruptive. An elementary faculty and day care heart on the website reportedly closed early in anticipation of potential turmoil, and each units of demonstrators shouted inflammatory language.
Shouts from the PAL-Awda facet included “Demise to the IDF” and “Globalize the intifada,” the slogan that Mamdani drew hearth for declining to sentence throughout the election season. He has mentioned he would “discourage” using the phrase, which police in London and different cities have not too long ago mentioned they might start to deal with as legal due to its affiliation with violence towards Jews.
Among the pro-Israel demonstrators shouted “We love ICE,” a reference to the federal immigration enforcement company that has been concerned within the Trump administration’s efforts to deport pro-Palestinian protesters. (On Wednesday, an ICE agent fatally shot a lady in Minneapolis.)
On the finish of the dueling protests, pro-Palestinian demonstrators referred to as the pro-Israel crowd “Nazis” and “Pedophiles” whereas one demonstrator referred to as them “f—ggots.”
In a flyer for the protest towards the occasion, which highlighted actual property on the market within the metropolis of Maale Adumim, Pal-Awda referred to as for demonstrators to “cease the sale of stolen Palestinian land.”
Maale Adumim is a significant Jewish settlement within the West Financial institution with a inhabitants of about 40,000. Critics of Israel see the town as strategically vital as a result of its location would interrupt contiguous land for a possible Palestinian state. Nonetheless, it’s seen as prone to stay underneath Israeli management if a Palestinian state is created sooner or later.
The showdown got here an evening after PAL-Awda canceled one other deliberate protest at a Nefesh b’Nefesh occasion. The group claimed victory, saying that it had deterred attendance.
Dayan mentioned she felt comforted by the heavy police presence in her space, however she mentioned seeing pro-Palestinian protesters in her neighborhood was “very unsettling.”
“I’m very comfortable to see that there’s a good police presence and that they appear to be contained behind the picket fences, so that’s comforting,” she mentioned. “Everybody has their freedom, nevertheless it’s simply, it’s scary. It’s very unsettling.”
