This past Labor Day, a contingent of New School students joined an estimated 5000 people in Union Square at noon for the National March on New York City for Gaza.
Organized by Within Our Lifetime (WOL), a sea of signs, banners, and Palestinian flags filled the park as various groups and individuals chanted in support. Some of the groups included Revolutionary Internationalist Youth, Class Struggle Education Workers, Neturei Karta International, Mamas 4 A Free Palestine, and Workers World Party. Student groups from multiple universities such as New York University, the Fashion Institute of Technology, and the City University of New York were also present, amongst others.
“Clearly, the students are taking this seriously,” Co-founder and Chair of WOL, Nardeen Kiswani said when asked about TNS protesters. “Students have historically stood up for liberation struggles in the past and it’s no different when it comes to Palestine, especially when our universities are directly complicit.” She encouraged students to “maintain the pressure.”
When asked for a comment regarding their attendance at the march, The New School contingent declined.
“There’s a genocide going on,” a student from Hunter College said, “That seems much greater than whatever administrative action they try and impose on us. We’re not afraid to stand in solidarity and against something that’s so obviously grotesque.”
Several New York Police Department (NYPD) bureaus and units were present at Union Square, including Legal Matters, Community Affairs, Technical Assistance Response, and the Strategic Response Group, amongst other uniformed officers.
“A ceasefire is not enough. An arms embargo is not enough,” Kiswani said during a speech, the crowd repeating it back to her in response. “All aid to Israel, weapons and money, must be stopped. The Zionist state must be isolated. All Zionist institutions must be dismantled. And all of Palestine must be freed.”
By about 1:30 p.m., the crowd began marching north holding two prominent banners: one reading, “No votes for genocide, resist for Palestine” and the other, “Resistance until return, within our lifetime,” as well as a large Palestinian flag. They were led by five NYPD officers on motorcycles, as well as several other officers on foot.
Protesters made their way towards Grand Central, crossing the Park Avenue Viaduct by 2:00 p.m. and lighting multiple red and white smoke flares. A half-hour later, the group was stopped and redirected by the NYPD at 44th St. and 2nd Ave. The crowd was allegedly meant to reach the United Nations Headquarters, which is located only a block away from where they were stopped, according to a protester. “We are being silenced,” the protester was overheard telling an NYPD officer. “We are being prevented from lawfully demonstrating in front of the United Nations.”
About 25 minutes later, the group passed the New York Public Library. NYPD officers holding bicycles lined the second staircase, a barricade standing a few feet behind them. No contact was made between protesters and the officers.
The crowd flooded into Washington Square Park by 3:40 p.m., congregating in the middle of the park, around the fountain. Several protesters stood on the outer rim of the fountain to address the crowd and lead chants while others lit red and green smoke flares.
A few groups of NYPD officers stood on the perimeter of the crowd, though a large group — including uniformed officers, Community Affairs, and the Strategic Response Group — remained at the north entrance as protesters continued chanting.
By about 5:00 p.m., most of the crowd had dissipated and a majority of the NYPD officers present had left the scene.