As protests continue, cities juggle speech and safety concerns
| New York
It was a frosty night in midtown Manhattan, and Rue, a nursing student from Brooklyn, had joined hundreds of mostly young pro-Palestinian demonstrators, some clad in black-and-white keffiyeh scarves, waving flags and homemade signs. The occasion was the annual lighting of an 80-foot Christmas tree at nearby Rockefeller Center, a televised event featuring Kelly Clarkson and Cher that had drawn thousands of tourists to watch live.
To Rue, who declined to give his surname, it鈥檚 a bittersweet season. 鈥淚 love Christmas too, and the Rockefeller tree, but this is about people鈥檚 lives,鈥� he says. 鈥淧eople [here] seem so oblivious. They鈥檙e just going on with their daily lives as if people aren鈥檛 dying every day in Palestine.鈥�
He breaks off to move a police barricade so more protesters can enter, and then adds, 鈥淚 just want to make an impact, to show that we鈥檙e here and this is happening. People can鈥檛 just forget about it.鈥�
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onAs protests and rallies about the Israel-Hamas war continue in the U.S., city leaders and law enforcement are tested by the need both to protect the right to demonstrate and to provide public safety.
Wednesday鈥檚 demonstration was the in New York and other cities. They are designed to draw attention to Israel鈥檚 deadly bombardment of Gaza since the Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas of 1,200 civilians in southern Israel and the abduction of about 240 hostages. In recent weeks, protesters have shut down bridges in New York and San Francisco, targeted Democratic lawmakers鈥� offices, and vandalized聽. Several were arrested here last week after they glued their hands to the street to divert the annual Macy鈥檚 Thanksgiving Day Parade.
With Gaza temporarily becalmed by a weeklong cease-fire and hostage exchanges but with no end in sight to the larger conflict, the challenge of policing pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian protests, and the risk of escalation, remains stark for law enforcement agencies. Few have faced sustained mass protests on this scale since the racial justice marches of 2020 and must tread a balance between allowing peaceful speech, monitoring extremist groups, and keeping the public safe.
鈥淭his is the ebb and flow of protest. We try to keep it calm, we let people move, and we let them exercise their rights. Sometimes things get a little hectic,鈥� Jeffrey Maddrey, chief of the New York Police Department, 聽during last night鈥檚 demonstration.
Protests and police presence聽
Earlier this week, Within Our Lifetime, a pro-Palestinian group that the Anti-Defamation League accuses of antisemitism, called for a 鈥淔lood The Tree Lighting for Gaza鈥�; 鈥淔lood鈥� was a Hamas code word for its Oct. 7 assault. 鈥�!鈥� it said on Instagram.
But a heavy police presence in and around Rockefeller Center prevented protesters from entering the cordoned tree-lighting area or disrupting the ceremony, which culminated at 10 p.m. in the lighting of 50,000 LED bulbs.
Instead, more than 500 protesters gathered by a Christmas tree outside the News Corp. building nearby, where a . Later, the protesters marched for several blocks and some clashed with police, leading to several arrests with tensions running high but no major violence.
Experts say police officers nationally are wary of being drawn into prolonged confrontations with protesters that fuel tensions, particularly if counter-demonstrators show up to goad the other side.
As police chief of Madison, Wisconsin, from the 1970s to early 1990s, David Couper pioneered a managed response in which police worked with protest groups to set the bounds for actions so that they could voice their message lawfully. 鈥淚t is a part of the Constitution: You have a right to peaceably assemble, so how do we make that happen? But that鈥檚 changed,鈥� says Mr. Couper. 鈥淥nce you lose the idea that the police really want to help and are not the villains ... the whole thing goes crazy. [In some cities] it鈥檚 a dangerous game. It鈥檚 a contact sport.鈥�
Some speakers at Wednesday鈥檚 demonstration harangued the NYPD and called it complicit in Israeli killings of Palestinians, while protesters accused the police of making arbitrary arrests at past events. 鈥淚t鈥檚 largely been peaceful,鈥� says Rue, who has attended several in recent weeks. 鈥淏ut every once in a while, the police will swoop in and arrest people.鈥�
Before the demonstration, the department laid down its ground rules. 鈥淭he NYPD will be on hand to protect the tree lighting and all those attending, and we will not tolerate disruption or any threats to public safety,鈥� said a spokesperson.聽
The nationwide protests after the police killing of George Floyd in May 2020 highlighted the broader challenge for law enforcement: Tasked with protecting public order, police can go overboard to protect their own when challenged, while protesters, in turn, push the boundaries of free speech in order to antagonize police. The upshot is a cycle of distrust that informs the next round, says Mr. Couper, who .
鈥淏eing able to police a diverse society requires that you have to be trusted and supported. Otherwise, the only way to do the job is more and more force,鈥� he says.
Balancing free speech, hate, and safety
Among the protesters on Wednesday was Rivka Rosensweig, a community organizer in New York and a veteran of past Palestinian rights marches. 鈥淚鈥檓 here today because I think we are witnessing a genocide funded by the United States,鈥� she says.
During the recent Israeli military actions in Gaza aimed at destroying Hamas, she has joined four protests in New York and two in Washington. Wednesday鈥檚 full-throated demonstration was encouraging, she notes. 鈥淚鈥檇 say, for turnout on a weekday it鈥檚 really good. It鈥檚 cold out.鈥�
For most Jewish Americans and organizations that monitor hate speech, this wave of protests is far less encouraging. The that antisemitic threats to Jews were at a historic high. Not all threats are coming from pro-Palestinian militants, though; analysts say far-right groups continue to pose a greater threat to a minority that makes up 2% of the U.S. population. Officials have also reported an in threats against Arab and Muslim Americans since Oct. 7.
On Wednesday night, the crowd repeatedly chanted 鈥淔rom the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,鈥� a slogan that to many signifies the expulsion of Israeli Jews from their country. Protesters also denounced President Joe Biden as 鈥淕enocide Joe,鈥� underscoring the split on the left over the administration鈥檚 U.S.-Israel policy.
Ms. Rosensweig, who is Jewish, says her views are at odds with family members whom she describes as Zionists. She believes that everyone must take a stance on what is unfolding in Israel and the Palestinian territories. 鈥淎nyone, Jewish or not, with a conscience can see that what is happening is untenable and abhorrent.鈥�
To Mr. Couper, the balancing act on protests isn鈥檛 getting any easier. When he ran Madison鈥檚 police department, he deployed officers to protect the rights of a small group of neo-Nazis to demonstrate near Wisconsin鈥檚 State Capitol. Last week, he watched as police were again on the streets in Madison to protect bystanders from a group of about 25 neo-Nazis, who shouted antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ slogans.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no easy way out of this,鈥� he says.
Patrik Jonsson contributed reporting.
