Oct 28

Oct 28 Gobsmacked in Brooklyn

Donald Trump, Demonstrations, Cityscapes, Protest, Public Declarations

Brooklyn was the site of a massive pro-Palestinian demonstration this afternoon. When I arrive at the Brooklyn Museum at 2:30 PM, I encountered a disorganized group of 200 or so demonstrators gathered on the sidewalks and plaza on the outside of linked bicycle racks lining the museum’s perimeter. The museum was closed.

I had walked from lower Manhattan, crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. Then I followed Flatbush Avenue to Atlantic Avenue, eventually finding my way to the museum’s campus on Eastern Parkway. Along the way, I saw: (i) signs affixed to lampposts naming people now held hostage by Hamas; (ii) a small group demanding that the size of the U.S. Supreme Court be expanded—they were heading in the direction of the pro-Palestinian rally, presumably ‘drafting’ off the sizable crowd expected at the rally; and (iii) hundreds of police congregating on street corners. Ominously, I also saw several white-and-blue police buses labeled “Corrections,” each with metal grids covering the windows. To maintain order, the NYPD deployed 1,800 officers.

Yesterday, the New York Post ran an article or op-ed written by John Podhoretz, characterizing the pro-Palestinian rally as a provocation, in large part because it was being held on Shabbat in Crown Heights, a decades-long enclave for New York’s Hasidic Community. Currently 20,000 Hasidic Jews call it home. Podhoretz claimed that the NYPD had told the Jewish Community to stay indoors, with Podhoretz pointing to several days of rioting in Crown Heights that took place in August 1991. The precipitating event: Yosef Lifsh, a Hasidic Jew, struck and killed seven-year Gavin Cato, an African-American boy, while Lifsh was driving in a motorcade. Three hours later, somewhere around 20 young Black men, egged on by someone yelling “Let’s go get a Jew,” beat and stabbed Yankel Rosenbaum to death. This incident was followed by several days of riots, resulting in injuries to 52 police officers and 38 civilians, the destruction of 27 vehicles, and the looting and burning of seven Jewish-owned businesses.

I didn’t recall this incident, but Podhoretz’s reference naturally made me apprehensive about attending, which was exactly what Podhoretz was hoping. In retrospect, his reference strikes me as disingenuous. There is a difference between what was a race riot and an organized demonstration. My fears quickly dissipated once I encountered the heavy police presence.

As in Chicago, the crowd was boisterous, but peaceful and non-threatening. When I was eating dinner tonight, I read another Post article characterizing the rally as anti-Semitic, in large part because of the signage. Although there were “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Shall Be Free” signs and chants, I did not see overtly anti-Semitic signage. Many of the signs called for a cease fire. Others demanded that the U.S. stop providing Israel with aid.

Unlike the Chicago rallies and marches, the Brooklyn rally did not have a central locus for speakers. In fact, I am not sure there were speakers. At the beginning, the crowd stood on the sidewalk adjacent to the fountain in front of the museum—it was off, presumably for the winter, although the temperature was in the low 80s. As the gathering grew considerably larger, people spilled onto Eastern Parkway, with the police eventually closing it to traffic.

Typically, I circulate through the crowd until the speeches begin. Today, I was gobsmacked when I returned to the spot where I hoped to gain a glimpse of the speakers, if there were speakers. There was a line of men and young boys, all dressed in black, standing awkwardly in front of the museum, with largely empty space on both side of the group, as if they had parted the Red Sea These weren’t Palestinians, but rather 25 Hasidic Jews. I instantly thought, “Are these guys nuts?” Then I wondered whether they were the Shmira—the local Hasidic self-defense force—that Podhoretz had referenced in his article.

I was ready for another dose of pepper spray when the inevitable skirmishes erupted. But the crowd largely ignored these men and boys. The photographers didn’t.

And then, when I began reading the signs each held or wore plastered across his back, I realized why no violence had erupted: the signs carried slogans such as “Israel is Responsible for 75 years of Tragic Bloodshed of Arab and Jew," “Torah Demands All Palestine Be Returned to Palestinian Sovereignty,” and “Free Palestine.” Even more surprising, when the march began, the Hasidic Jews were two or three rows behind the lead banners.

Later, while I was speaking with a woman who was marching, she told me they were a small minority within the Hasidic community, which I assume now shuns them. I certainly don’t envy the boys who accompanied the men. Did they make an informed decision to march, or did their adult guardians tell them what to think and do?

Based on Podhoretz’s article, I expected the march to proceed through the Hasidic Community’s residential areas as a further provocation, but that was not the case. Rather, the group retraced my earlier route from Manhattan. Along the way, I asked a cop if she knew the route. She told me the Brooklyn Bridge was the group’s destination, but then somewhat ominously added—at least that’s how I interpreted what came next—“They will not be crossing it.”

Turns out she was wrong. Just short of the bridge’s blocks-long entranceway, I dashed into a convenience store to get something to drink. I was sweating profusely, and knew I had to stay hydrated. After five minutes, I rejoined the march, expecting a police line blockading the entrance to the bridge’s pedestrian walkway.

There was no police blockade; there were simply too many demonstrators. Someone on high must have decided mass arrests were just too much trouble. Now engulfed by a mass of humanity, I was pushed along, thinking I was headed to the bridge’s upper-level pedestrian walkway. WRONG. I hade inadvertently joined the effort to shut down the bridge’s automobile lanes.

Photographically, I would have much preferred the walkway, but there was something thrilling about being in the crowd—although I did not like being trapped. There was no turning back.

I spent the more than an hour crossing the span, often surrounded by dozens of people in my row, and the ones immediately in front and in back of me. By the time I reached the other side, I had been walking for six hours, logging just over 13 miles.

The group seemed to be breaking up as people headed in every direction, so I decided to head back to my hotel for a shower. I had planned to hit a jazz club, but I had zero energy, so I opted for dinner at Eataly, just a short block from my hote, which isl adjacent to the 9/11 Memorial.

Watching the 11:00 PM News in my hotel room, I learned that a good number of the marchers continued trekking north, heading to Union Square. I wish I had continued with the demonstrators, but doing so would have meant another 15 to 20 blocks.

In terms of numbers, I have seen crowd estimates as low as 3,000 and as high as 7,000. If I had to venture a guess, I would err in the 7,000 range, maybe even a bit higher.

Some Personal Thoughts on the State of the World

Since October 7, I have given a lot of thought to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, particularly when attending the demonstrations. In recent days, there have been any number of articles and interviews discussing the Left’s sympathies for the Palestinians and antagonism toward Israel. Some Democrats now say they will not vote for Joseph Biden because he has ignored the Palestinian’s plight.

We now find ourselves back in 1968: a Democratic President continuing to pursue an unpopular war, with colleges campuses in turmoil. Back then conservative middle-class voters were concerned with a breakdown in morals—free love and drugs; many older voters are now troubled bygay and other ‘non-traditional’ relationships. Inflation had reared its ugly head in 1968, just as it is doing today. Thankfully, there have been no headline-grabbing assassinations, but the wounds of January 6 remain open, with November 2024 election still a year away. In sum, conditions are right for Richard Nixon cum Donald Trump to once again capture the White House.

Then there is the question that all these demonstrations have forced me to confront: Who is right and who is wrong? My answer: each side is right and each is wrong. The Israelis certainly have a right to respond to Hamas’ October 7th attacks, which left 1,400 Israeli citizens dead, many wounded, and 200-plus people taken hostage. But as the New York Times’ Thomas Friedman has now written, Israel should not undertake a rampage resulting in the death of thousands of Palestinian civilians.

While nothing ever justifies the slaughter of civilians, the Israelis should not be surprised about what transpired on October 7. For decades, Israel has activity thwarted efforts to address the deplorable conditions in which the Palestinians find themselves. Israel’s far-right has thwarted the two-state solution by building settlements in the West Bank, in what is a gigantic land grab. There are credible reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu covertly provided Hamas with funding—using Qatar as the cut-out— hoping to weaken the Palestinian Authority as part of his effort to avoid a two-state solution.

The highly-educated Palestinian population living in Gaza has legitimate complaints, particularly given that they have now been subject to a 16-year Israeli blockade that has limited supplies of many vital goods and resources. The population has borne the brunt of periodic efforts by Israel’s military to eliminate Hamas. To reiterate, none of that justifies what happened on October 7. Attacking an Israeli military base or other target might be justifiable, but not civilians.

As much as Israel (including the civilian population), demands revenge, extracting it will prove to be a collasal mistake, as the United States learned when it invaded Afghanistan and Iraq following 9/11. We have already seen more than enough video showing bombed-out concrete apartment buildings, raising an obvious question: where will the people who live in those buildings now reside? The next generation of Hamas fighters will rise from the rubble, which brings us to the Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the collapsed talks aimed at normalizing relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Those talks may be suspended, but a deal will be reached once hostilities in Gaza end. The Crown Prince realizes he has a problem—his country holds massive amounts of oil reserves, but the world is moving away from fossil fuels. Bin Salman most likely views Israel as the solution. Over many decades, it has developed a vibrant economy in the desert.. The Crown Prince seeks Israel’s accumulated know-how so that Saudi Arabia can reposition its economy.

As the Crown Prince realizes, the prospect of prosperity overcomes hostility, which is why the Israelis should not bomb the Palestinians back to the Stone Age. They have ever right to strategically eliminate Hamas’ leadership through covert means, but the solution to the Palestinian problem is Palestinian prosperity. Israel needs to revamp its thinking, but so do the Palestinians. While “From the river to sea” is a catchy slogan, the Israelis will not vacate the land that sits between the river and the sea.

President Biden should engage in serious discussions with the Israelis, pushing Palestinian prosperity as the long-term solution. Not only is this in the Israelis interest, but it is in ours’s too. This s not a self-contained conflict. The United States can expect blowback if Israel remains on its present course, which well could mean a second-term for President Trump—a colossal disaster.

A Final Note: I was advised to use an image showing thousands of pro-Palestinian marchers headed over the Brooklyn Bridge as my lede photograph. Every photographer who covers a demonstration involving a hike over the Brooklyn Bridge wants that image, and as you will see, I have one. As cool as that photograph might be, it isn’t the aspect of this march that I found most newsworthy; that honor goes to the group of Hasidic Jewish boys and men who joined the other pro-Palestinian demonstrators. I never dreamed that I would see a Hasidic Jew oppose Israel, particularly given the hopes held and demands made by Israel’s far-right. The presence of the Hasidic Jews was by far the most newsworthy aspect of today’s demonstration.

[Click on an Image to Enlarge It]