Thousands take to Brooklyn and Manhattan streets in pro-Palestinian rally - Gothamist

Thousands gathered for a pro-Palestinian rally in Brooklyn on Saturday, calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.

The protest moved through several neighborhoods and eventually across the Brooklyn Bridge, causing officials to close the bridge to traffic for more than two hours. Many protesters made their way to Union Square later in the evening.

Crowds began gathering for the protest, which was organized by Within Our Lifetime, in front of the Brooklyn Museum around 3 p.m. The crowd then marched through Downtown Brooklyn, heading past the Barclays Center on its way to the Brooklyn Bridge.

Within Our Lifetime's website describes the group as a Palestinian-led organization that has been involved in pro-Palestinian movements in New York City since 2015.

There was a large police presence near the bridge, the Barclays Center and along Eastern Parkway.

According to NotifyNYC, all lanes on the bridge were closed around 5:30 p.m. as the protest made its way across into Manhattan, and drivers were encouraged to take alternate routes. The bridge later reopened around 8 p.m., according to NotifyNYC, though drivers were advised to expect residual delays.

Xiomara Ossorio, 31, an artist from Flatbush, Brooklyn, was among the protesters in Union Square on Saturday night. She said she joined the protesters near the Barclays Center and crossed the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan with the crowd.

"I came to call for the end to this genocide," Ossorio said. "Our tax dollars are actively funding this."

"I came to condemn the use of U.S. tax dollars for this," she continued.

Arman Yasin, 20, a student at SUNY Oneonta who's originally from Poughkeepsie, came to the city to attend the protest alongside his mother, fiancée and sister-in-law.

"I wanted to be in the thick of it, I wanted to get involved," Yasin said, adding that he planned to attend another protest on Sunday.

"We need to raise our voice, because that's what we have," said Laiba Ahmed, Yasin's sister-in-law. "We have our voice and we need to use our voice to make sure that people from all around the world that this is wrong, and this needs to stop. This can't keep going on."

The protesters gathered in front of the Brooklyn Museum, then made their way through Downtown Brooklyn and into Lower Manhattan.

Megan Ryan/Gothamist

The NYPD has not reported any incidents or arrests so far.

The protest followed another pro-Palestinian demonstration at Grand Central Terminal on Friday, which resulted in the MTA closing the transit hub for nearly two hours.

The protest came as Israel ramped up bombardments and ground attacks in Gaza during its war with Hamas on Saturday, according to the Associated Press.

This is an ongoing story and will be updated with new information as it is available.

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