The protesters say they are targeting Israel real estate marketing events that also offer potential buyers information about real estate in settlements.
Monday’s protest, in Midwood, followed a similar demonstration last week and two protests at synagogues in November and January, one targeting a real estate event and another against an Israel immigration event.
The protesters on Monday waved a Hezbollah flag overhead and chanted, “Globalize the intifada,” “Brick by brick, wall by wall, Israel will fall,” and “Death to the IDF.”
They also held an orange banner that read, “Israel is killing children” and shouted “baby killers” at Jewish counter-protesters, echoing an age-old blood libel.
Jewish counter-demonstrators responded with pro-IDF chants and shouted, “The people of Israel live,” in Hebrew. A handful sang, “May your village burn,” also in Hebrew.
Youths on scooters berated the extremist, anti-Zionist Neturei Karta sect in Yiddish, while others shouted at them, “You’re not even Jewish.” Neturei Karta members appear at the front lines of nearly every anti-Zionist protest in the city.
Crowds of neighborhood residents hounded the protesters as they marched, with lines of police keeping the two sides separate. Police drones and a helicopter hovered overhead and dozens of officers were at the scene.
The two sides traded insults and several scuffles broke out. The counter-demonstrators mocked the protesters for wearing masks and called them “terrorists.” The protesters said, “Thank you.”
“Where’s Sinwar? Where’s Nasrallah?” The counter-protesters shouted, referring to the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah killed by Israel.
Some protesters shouted “Fuck Israel,” at residents who opened their doors. Children and families watched the protest march from their stoops and some residents waved Israeli flags from balconies.
One man shouted, “Remember Khaybar,” at Jews, referring to a battle victory by the early Muslims over Jews that is sometimes invoked by Hamas.
An elderly man grabbed at a protester’s face mask and was shoved to the ground, knocking his head on a tree.
“It’s a free country. He has the right to protest but not to hide himself,” the elderly man said. “I survived Vietnam. What’s a little prick like that?”
Some fights broke out on the sidelines and a protester in a keffiyeh yanked a woman backward by her hair.
A handful of eggs landed in the anti-Zionist crowd and splattered on the ground. An adolescent Jewish boy was led away by police minutes later.
The protest was led by the Pal-Awda activist group. Organizers from Within Our Lifetime and the Palestinian Youth Movement were also in attendance.
The protest followed a similar demonstration last week against a real estate event at a Manhattan synagogue.
That protest took place in a neighborhood with a less dense Jewish population, though, and fewer counter-protesters turned out. There appeared to be a roughly equal number of protesters and counter-demonstrators at Monday’s event.
The real estate events have repeatedly drawn protests in the New York region in recent years. The rallies tend to be especially vitriolic because they take place at synagogues or in Jewish neighborhoods.
The New York City Council passed legislation last month meant to better control protests at houses of worship, but police are not yet required to take new measures mandated by the law.
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