PHOTOS: Thousands Of Yemenis Protest Trump's 'Muslim Ban' In Brooklyn

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN, NY — Upward of 1,000 Yemeni-owned bodegas, cafes, grocery stores and other businesses across NYC's five boroughs shut their doors at noon Thursday in protest of President Donald Trump's recent executive order barring travel to the U.S. from Yemen and six other Muslim-dominant nations.

The strike lasted eight hours, until 8 p.m.

A call to prayer and rally scheduled for 5:15 p.m. Brooklyn Borough Hall (209 Joralemon St.) ended up starting hours earlier. By 5 p.m., more than 1,000 protesters had already filled the steps leading up to Borough Hall and the courtyard below. And at the peak of the protest, the Brooklyn Borough President's Office estimated the crowd to be between 4,000 and 5,000 people.

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Protesters packed the stairs of the hall, holding signs and flags and chanting, "What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!" and "USA! USA!" One girl being held up on her father's shoulders held a sign that said, "Where's my mom? I need my mom."

When it got dark outside, a line of protesters carried brightly lit signs above their heads that spelled out "STRIKE" — one letter per sign.

"In New York City we respect our brothers and sisters," Carmelyn P. Malalis, NYC commissioner of human rights, said to the cheering crowd. "Here in NYC the commission on human rights is fighting to protect you. We see you. We have your back. If you are treated differently, if you're discriminated, if you are pushed around... we will have your back."

"You belong here, and we stand with you! Take that, Mr. Trump! You cannot divide us. You cannot speak for us. And we will stand together," said Manhattan borough president Gale Brewer.

"This is what democracy looks like," said Daneek Miller, the only Muslim in NYC's City Council. "This is what the struggle looks like. This is the next chapter in American struggle."

Council member Carlos Menchaca from Sunset Park led the crowd in a call-back chant: "We are American. We are New Yorkers. Donald Trump, you work for us. You work for us. No ban. No wall. We are united. We are united. And we will stand up. And we will fight back. Si se puede."

"We stand united against the hate and bigotry and unconstitutionality of Donald Trump!" said Assemblyman Robert Carroll (Park Slope).

Many of the rally-goers held flags — both American and Yemeni. Mini American flags were also being handed out on site.

Kassim Gahmi, 43 — pictured below — told Patch at the rally that he and dozens of other Yemeni-Americans traveled to Brooklyn from Connecticut for the rally. "America is the greatest country in the world," he said. "It is the safest country in the world."

But "this is insane," Gahmi said.

Gahmi said he has six children — ranging in age from 7 to 22 — and that they're all terrified about what's going to happen to them under Trump, even though they're American citizens.

"They're scared that one day Trump's going to order to deport everyone. And then someone's gonna come for them. That's not fair for little kids to feel that way."

Given the opportunity to speak to Trump directly, Gahmi said he would tell the president: "Please look behind you a little and think about where your ancestors came from — where your wife came from. We are all immigrants here."

The protest began as just a bodega and grocery store strike, but other Yemeni-owned businesses then joined in, according to Ashley Houghston, an appointed spokesperson for the strikers.

Yemen Cafe on Atlantic Avenue in the Brooklyn Heights/Cobble Hill area, for instance, decided Wednesday night to close Thursday for the protest. On Thursday morning, the cafe's voicemail message said it would be closed from 12 to 8 p.m. "in support of our families friends and loved ones who are stranded by the U.S. Air Force and overseas."

Nadal 3 Deli, a deli in the Bronx that has always been open 24 hours a day, closed on Thursday for the first time ever, its owner, Adnan Alshabbi, told a BuzzFeed reporter. He had to buy locks for the deli's doors because they had never before been closed, Alshabbi said.

Coney Island resident Nader Muharram, 34, closed his deli Thursday at 233 Schermerhorn St. in Downtown Brooklyn.

"We have to practice our democracy," Muharram said. "We are American. This is our country, too."

Muharram said he's an American citizen who's been in the country for four-and-a-half years, and has long hoped to bring his four sisters and two brothers to the U.S. from Yemen. They've never met his three young children. Now, he said, he's not sure that will ever be possible.

"What can we do? What's going on? What's going to happen after this?" Muharram said. "It is just the beginning of [Trump's] executive orders."

The deli owner added: "Everybody comes here to have freedom, to practice whatever religion they like. ... We love America. We want to live in peace."

Dozens of New Yorkers were tweeting about the strike Thursday using the hashtags #MyYemeniNeighbor and #BodegaStrike.

New Yorkers were also stepping up Thursday to make up for the businesses' lost profits. By noon, around 75 people had donated more than $1,700 in 14 hours via GoFundMe.

"Donating what we would otherwise spend at our local bodega on a regular Thursday to give back to this community is the least we can do to show solidarity at this difficult time!" said Catherine Keys, who created the GoFundMe page. Keys said she is working with the protest organizers to make sure the donations are allocated appropriately.

The New York Taxi Workers Alliance, the city's cab-driver union, declared its support Thursday for local Yemenis closing their businesses.

"The 19,000 professional drivers of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance stand in solidarity with New York City's Yemeni business owners and their courageous strike against Donald Trump's unconstitutional and inhumane Muslim ban," the union said.

"The labor of Muslim and immigrant workers is key to the success of the American economy," the union said, "and it is time for us to use our power to fight back against Islamophobia, bigotry, and immigrant bashing."

Photos by Sarah Kaufman/Patch