NEW YORK — Anti-Zionist protesters in New York City chanted in support of Hamas at a rally near a synagogue and Jewish school on Thursday.
The demonstration was the first significant protest under New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration, and had raised safety concerns in the neighborhood, but police kept the protesters apart from neighborhood residents and away from the synagogue entrance.
The protest, organized by the Pal-Awda activist group, targeted an event marketing real estate in Israel that was held at the Young Israel synagogue in the Kew Gardens Hills neighborhood in Queens.
The protesters chanted, “Say it loud, say it clear, we support Hamas here,” “Shut the fuck up Zionists, Israel does not exist,” “Zionism will fall,” “Death to the IDF,” “Intifada people’s war,” and “Settlers go back home.”
The protesters were confined to a police “pen,” inside a metal barricade, about half a block away from the synagogue entrance. A group of Jewish counter-protesters from the neighborhood was in a separate pen across the street. There were around 200 anti-Zionist demonstrators and slightly fewer Jewish counter-protesters.
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The Jewish crowd waved Israeli and American flags and chanted “USA” and “Fuck Mamdani.”
Protesters in Queens chant, “Say it loud, say it clear, we support Hamas here” https://t.co/tGxtEYTEwv pic.twitter.com/RKxD3uY4Ia
— Luke Tress (@luketress) January 9, 2026
“Get your Nazi flags out of my neighborhood,” one woman shouted, referring to the Palestinian flag.
One man carried a flag for the extremist Jewish Defense League.
The Kew Gardens Hills neighborhood is home to a large Orthodox and Bukharian Jewish population.
There was a heavy police presence at the scene and in the surrounding area, which was closed to traffic.
A yeshiva and a public school are located at the intersection where the protest took place, but the schools were closed. The protest began around 6:30 p.m.
The chants for Hamas marked an escalation. While individuals at protests in New York City sometimes wear Hamas headbands, carry the flags of terrorist groups, or voice support for terrorists on their own, it appeared to be the first time a crowd chanted for Hamas together.
Anti-Zionist activists have also held memorial services for Hamas and Hezbollah leaders in New York City.
Anti-Israel protesters in New York City, September 23, 2025. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
Anti-Zionist activists have steadily escalated their rhetoric over the past two years.
Hamas is a US-designated terrorist group, but verbal support for terrorists is protected under US free speech laws.
Pal-Awda advertised the event on social media in recent days, telling its followers to wear masks and saying, “No settlers on stolen land.” The advertisements were shared widely by anti-Zionist groups on social media, including by the New York branch of the fringe, anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace.
Pal-Awda said the protest targeted by the Israeli company CapitIL, but a spokesperson for the group said it was not holding any events in New York.
Advertisements for an event hosted by a group called Mortgage Israel circulated on social media. Mortgage Israel did not respond to a request for comment.
The advertisements listed locations in Jerusalem, Netanya, Carmei Gat, Ramat Beit Shemesh, Ashdod and Tel Aviv — all within Israel’s internationally recognized borders — as well as Ma’ale Adumim, which is over the Green Line in the West Bank.
Anti-Zionist protesters in New York City, January 8, 2026. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
New York State Assemblymember Sam Berger, who is Jewish and represents the area, said that the protest had forced the early closure of after-school programs at a daycare and two elementary schools due to security concerns.
Berger told The Times of Israel that Pal-Awda had protested in the community about a year and a half ago. At that rally, the protesters hurled antisemitic slurs at residents and waved a Hezbollah flag, Berger said ahead of Thursday’s rally.
“It crossed the line from peaceful protesting to agitation and harassment,” Berger said ahead of Thursday’s protest. “Now that same group is here again, so reasonably, there is a lot of panic from the community.”
“This is a residential area. This is an area with a lot of young families who are now worried about the safety of their children,” he said.
“We don’t live in Manhattan. We’re a quiet residential community,” said Sorolle Idels, the founder of the Queens Jewish Alliance advocacy group, who lives in the neighborhood. “We’re not used to this kind of disturbance and we don’t welcome it.”
Idels said her group had asked neighborhood residents to keep away from the area.
Jewish counter-protesters at an anti-Zionist rally in New York City, January 8, 2026. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
Events marketing real estate in Israel have been a protest flashpoint for years, partly because the demonstrations take place in Jewish areas, often at synagogues, while most other demonstrations do not. The synagogues do not organize the events, but rent out their space.
Pal-Awda led a protest outside Manhattan’s Park East Synagogue in November that saw demonstrators hurl discriminatory epithets and chant threats toward Jews. That protest targeted an event by Nefesh B’nefesh, a group that facilitates Jewish immigration to Israel.
Mamdani sparked a firestorm of criticism after that protest by speaking out against both the demonstrators and the synagogue, which he said had violated international law by hosting the immigration event. Nefesh B’nefesh provides information to immigrants who want to move to West Bank settlements.
At the November rally, protesters were allowed to gather next to the synagogue entrance, forcing event participants to walk past them. Pro-Israel counterprotesters were also located closer to the anti-Zionist group. The protest drew criticism of the NYPD from the Jewish community, which generally commends the police for its handling of protests. After the rally, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch apologized to Park East Synagogue.
At Thursday’s protest, the demonstrators were not allowed near the synagogue entrance or the counter-protesters. There were also fewer people in attendance, likely because Kew Gardens Hills is a suburban neighborhood far from the city center.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said on Tuesday that, during her State of the State briefing on January 13, she will announce a policy establishing “safety zones” around houses of worship.
Jews were targeted in 330 hate crimes in 2025, more than all other groups combined, according to NYPD data released on Tuesday.
