NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Hundreds gathered in Union Square for a pro-Palestinian demonstration on Labor Day, just a day after a rally in Central Park mourned the loss of additional Israeli hostages.
The protest, the “National March on NYC for Gaza,” organized by Within Our Lifetime and Healthcare Workers for Palestine, was held to take a stand against what the organizers describe as the “repression and genocide” of Palestinians.
The event is expected to be one of many pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the city on Monday, according to the NYPD.
“What you see is both sides showing their angst and their frustrations,” Mohammed Ali J, a member of the group Friends for Standing Together told 1010 WINS. “But both sides seem to have a problem with seeing the other side’s point of view and having a sense of empathy.”
Flyers distributed online ahead of the event state that the gathering responds to several issues, including “unjustly firing employees” and “censoring the voices of those fighting for Palestinian liberation.” Specifically, they point to Google’s firing of 28 employees who protested Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract with Israel supporting its government, military, and weapon manufacturers.
The flyers also criticize healthcare institutions for "failing to support healthcare workers who stand or speak out about Palestine," condemning “healthcare repression.” They specifically mention the firing of employees, including New York nurse Hesen Jabr, who was dismissed after referring to Israel’s war in Gaza as “genocide” during an award acceptance speech.
In the context of the ongoing conflict, Israel’s ground and air campaign in Gaza has killed more than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run Gazan Health Ministry, since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack in which they killed about 1,200 people and took over 200 hostages.
The rally will be followed by a fundraiser from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the West Village, featuring a panel on the medical crisis in Gaza. Speakers include Dr. Ezzeddine Lulu, Dr. Karameh Hawash, Rohaan Gill, Ahmed Kouta, and Bassam Faluona.
Another participant, John King, an adjunct professor at NYU and a union member, emphasized the importance of showing solidarity on Labor Day. “There’s such a thing as international labor solidarity,” King told 1010 WINS. “The Palestinian trade unions have put out a call for workers around the world to end the genocide.”
Rael Shahana, who attended the rally, expressed a deeply personal connection to both sides of the conflict. “I’m a Jew,” Shahana said. “I am also a Jew with an Arab father. So it’s my people and my people, and we’re at a point where what happens to one changes the rest of the future for the others.”
Monday’s pro-Palestinian rally follows an emotional gathering Sunday night in Central Park, where hundreds came together to mourn and pay tribute to the six Israeli hostages found dead in Gaza.
The six people killed included Ori Danino, 25; Eden Yerushalmi, 24; Almog Sarusi, 27; Alexander Lobanov, 33; Carmel Gat, 40; and Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, whose parents Rachel and Jonathan have been influential in the #BringThemHome movement, actively meeting with high-ranking officials to call for the return of their son and all other Hamas-held hostages.
Gustavo Bruckner, Gat's cousin, pointed attention away from Hamas during his speech and instead toward the Israeli government, which has been increasingly criticized as hostage negotiations have continued to drag on for nearly 11 months.
“Israel’s existential threat is not Hamas, nor Hezballa, or even the Islamic Republic of Iran. If even one hostage doesn’t return, even one, Israel’s sacred pact with its citizens is broken and that is an existential threat,” Bruckner said. “My family has paid the ultimate price, may there be no more.”
This statement matched the tone of protests in Israel, where grieving and angry citizens rushed to the streets while chanting “Now! Now!” as demands for Netanyahu to reach a ceasefire intensified. Israel’s largest trade union, the Histadrut, has also pressured the Israeli government by calling for a general strike to begin Monday.
Moshe Emilio Lavi, brother-in-law of Omri Miran (abducted from Kibbutz Nahal Oz on Oct. 7), also spoke, sharing his anger toward Hamas for kidnapping his loved one and toward his leaders for not taking further action to bring him home.
“I blame the brutal Hamas terrorists for kidnapping Omri, and I blame our leaders, all our leaders, for every single day they’re not home and every hostage that lost their life in the most horrible conditions,” he said. “Empathy isn’t enough, we need actions.”
“Family members of hostages, public officials, Rabbis and community leaders will meet to light candles for all the cherished souls who were brutally murdered by Hamas in captivity just days ago—and could have and should have been saved,” the organization explained. “We will call to end this torture and save the remaining hostages now—they have no more time.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.