‘Not like other Passovers’: hundreds of Jewish demonstrators arrested after New York protest seder
About 300 people were detained near Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer’s Brooklyn home
Jewish Demonstrators Arrested at New York Protest Seder
About 300 Jewish anti-war demonstrators were arrested during a Passover seder that also served as a protest in New York. The arrests occurred on Tuesday night at Grand Army Plaza, near Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer’s Brooklyn residence, where thousands of mostly Jewish New Yorkers had gathered for the seder, marking the second night of the holiday celebrated as a festival of freedom by Jews worldwide [1].
The protesters were calling for a ceasefire and urging Senator Chuck Schumer to end US military aid to Israel. They emphasized that they, as American Jews, would not be complicit and silent, and expressed their opposition to the arming of Israel’s military, which heavily relies on US weapons, jet fuel, and other military equipment. The demonstration was organized by Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow, two leftist groups campaigning on an avowedly anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian platform [2].
Morgan Bassichis, an organizer with Jewish Voice for Peace, stated, “This is the Passover that we take our exodus from Zionism. Not in our name. Let Gaza live.” The mass arrests occurred after the seder rituals, and the speakers included journalist and author Naomi Klein, Palestinian activist Linda Sarsour, and several Jewish students suspended from Columbia University and Barnard College over recent protests.
The protest was inspired by the 1969 Freedom Seder, organized by Arthur Waskow on the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, which sought to connect the Jewish exodus story with the struggle for civil rights in the US and against the war in Vietnam [1].
The demonstration was part of a series of high-profile antiwar actions by Jewish groups in the US, with similar protests taking place in Washington, D.C., and at the White House, demanding a ceasefire and an end to the bombardment of Gaza. The protesters emphasized the importance of liberation and expressed outrage at the billions of US tax dollars in the Israeli military bill.