Pro-Palestine Rally At Hunter College Draws Over 100 Protesters

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A group of over 100 held a pro-Palestine rally outside of Hunter College on Thursday.

The rally, part of several occurring at college campuses around the city on Thursday, called for a "struggle" against Zionism, apartheid and racism.

"Israel, go to hell," one person led the crowd in yelling.

"Occupation is a crime," the crowd shouted in another one of their many chants, "free, free Palestine."

A speaker at the rally said he "urged universities, including CUNY, in which all students have the safety to express their political opinions," and encouraged students to "persist in their non-violent, protected speech."

One sign claimed that "resistance is justified when people are occupied," and another simply read: "Israel is the terrorist."

"Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel's crimes," went another chant.

A large police presence watched over the rally, including officers from the counterterroism squad, and a large police drone hovered nearby overhead, just feet from an apartment building.

But not everyone there was agreeing with the message.

"Terrorists!" shouted a man, part of about a dozen pro-Israeli counter-protesters cordoned off on Lexington Avenue.

"F--- you," another counter-protester shouted.

One speaker at the rally claimed that a person was arrested, but police officials were unable to immediately verify the claim.

A Pro-Palestine group at Hunter College, the Palestine Solidarity Alliance, helped organize the rally in response to the outbreak of the current conflict and statements made by CUNY officials that the group called "a biased and inappropriate portrayal of the Palestinian resistance."

"We want to be clear that we don’t condone the activities of any internal organizations that are sponsoring rallies to celebrate or support Hamas’ cowardly actions," CUNY Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez said earlier in the week.

The chancellor's statement was partially a response to a protest in Times Square condemned by politicians, including Mayor Eric Adams.

"To call a people facing genocide and active displacement “terrorists” is defamatory and wildly inaccurate," the statement from the student groups read.

Around the corner from the rally, a row of taped flyers on an East 68th Street construction fence showed the faces of Israeli victims kidnapped during the Hamas attack over the weekend.

People stopped to watch as they entered and exited the entrance to the 6 train, like Marie, who happened to be on her way to Hunter to listen to a talk.

"There must be a conversation about this," said Marie, who declined to share her last name. "We need to dismantle settler colonialism and the enabling by the U.S."

She said similar dynamics were at play in Puerto Rico, where she's from, and that she was in solidarity with Palestinians.

An Upper East Sider who lives just down the block heard the commotion from his apartment and decided to check out the rally.

"Everybody hates everybody," the observing neighbor concluded.

The death toll from Hamas' devastating attack over the weekend has reached 1,200 people, most of whom were unarmed Israeli civilians, according to Israeli government officials. An estimated 150 Israelis were also taken hostage by Hamas fighters, according to reports.

In response, over 1,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in Israeli bomb strikes following the Hamas attack, according to the Gazan Health Ministry. Water and electricity in Gaza have been cut off by Israel, and over 300,000 Palestinians have been made homeless as a result of the Israeli campaign so far, according to the New York Times.

Meanwhile, college students across New York City planned pro-Palestinian protests, including Brooklyn College and Columbia University.