An anti-Israel protest at a private Israeli real estate meeting in Manhattan failed to disrupt the Monday engagement, according to the meeting’s organizers, and several arrests were made as the New York Police Department attempted to restore order.
The Palestinian Assembly for Liberation (PAL)-Awda New York/New Jersey, which has been at the forefront of several past protests against Israeli real estate events and expos, organized a rally at a Kosher restaurant in the Financial District, where a small meeting was being held by Noam Homes, Selling Israel, the IREC, and Wruble and Co.
Protesters with Palestinian flags arrived at the restaurant, and according to videos uploaded to Instagram by PAL-Awda, they blocked the entrance while chanting “Palestine is not for sale.”
Demonstrators claimed that “a Zionist” was arrested for attacking them. One of the meeting’s organizers reported that the man was a lawyer who had been stopped by the police for becoming upset and attempting to push his way through the protesters to enter the restaurant.
Instagram videos showed the man being detained by the police. Officers also set up a barrier around the restaurant and called for demonstrators to cease blocking the entrance under threat of arrest.
The NYPD said that law enforcement responded to the incident on Monday morning, taking four people into custody. Three were issued summons and released, and one was arrested and charged.
Private seated meeting turned standing event
Although several participants canceled their attendance at the meeting due to the protest, an organizer said that even more people came into the restaurant, turning the private seated meeting into a standing event.
This same facilitator also said that their guiding principle was to keep people safe, but not to let such matters get in the way. The companies would continue to provide those interested in purchasing real estate in Israel with the resources and information to do so.
“Even if it is in the way, we’re going to come,” said the real estate representative. “Am Yisrael Chai. We’re here to stay.”
PAL-Awda said on X/Twitter on Sunday that the meeting was part of an “ongoing effort to cleanse the land of its indigenous inhabitants ethnically.”
“This stolen land sale, illegal under international, national, state, & local laws, is intentionally being held under restrictive registration requirements, to exclude everyone except for the most Zionist & Orthodox Jews from participation, to expand further the Zionist entity’s attempt to take over all of Palestine,” claimed the anti-Israel organization.