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Police detain dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators for disrupting Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
(New York Jewish Week) – Police detained 34 anti-Israel protesters during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan on Thursday.
The activists disrupted the procession in Midtown and were forcibly removed by police.
Video showed the demonstrators lying in the street, dousing themselves with fake blood, and chanting “Liberation, for Palestine and planet.” They wore white jumpsuits emblazoned with words including “consumerism,” “colonialism,” “ethnic cleansing” and “capitalism.”
In footage from the event, bystanders are heard booing the activists as the protest holds up the iconic parade.
Police said 34 individuals had been taken into custody. Four were arrested for charges including trespassing, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. Thirty individuals received criminal court summonses for trespassing.
Radical pro-Palestinian groups also held protests in Manhattan around the time of the parade. The groups advertised the demonstrations as “Flood ‘Thankstaking’ for Gaza and indigenous resistance,” echoing Hamas’ name for its Oct. 7 terror rampage through southern Israel, which it called “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.”
The demonstrations were led by Within Our Lifetime and Decolonize This Place, two hardline pro-Palestinian groups that endorsed the Hamas attack after it killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
Footage shared by the activists showed protesters marching through Manhattan waving Palestinian flags and holding signs that said “Zionism is terrorism,” “By any means necessary,” and “Resistance until return,” then gathering at the New York Public Library’s main branch on Fifth Avenue in Midtown. Video showed the facade of the library defaced with red handprints and Palestinian flags.
The group said it was disrupting Thanksgiving to protest the “settler colonies the United States and Israel,” and had targeted the Stephen Schwarzman building of the library because the “zionist billionaire” for which it is named has business ties in Israel, and because, last month, following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, the Blackstone Group, of which Schwarzman is the CEO, pledged $7 million in humanitarian aid for Israel.
The organizers earlier this week encouraged their followers to show up along the parade route with Palestinian flags and signs.
The groups have held near-daily protests in New York City in recent weeks that call for the elimination of the Jewish state and the targeting of “Zionists” in the U.S. There are additional protests scheduled for Friday and Saturday.
Within Our Lifetime set off an uproar last week by posting maps online showing the location of Jewish and pro-Israel organizations in New York and encouraging its followers to target the institutions.
The demonstrations are taking place as Israel navigates a delicate process to release some of the hostages held by terrorists in Gaza. The attackers took over 200 Israelis and foreign nationals hostage on Oct. 7, including many children.
On Friday, 13 Israelis and 11 other nationals were released from captivity in exchange for a pause in fighting and Israel’s release of thirty-nine Palestinians, many of whom were imprisoned on terror charges.
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The post Police detain dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators for disrupting Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Rubio Heads to Israel Amid Tensions Among US Middle East Allies
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to members of the media, before departing for Israel at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, September 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard/Pool
US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat, Marco Rubio headed to Israel on Saturday, amid tensions with fellow US allies in the Middle East over Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar and expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
Speaking to reporters before departure, Rubio reiterated that the US and President Donald Trump were not happy about the strikes.
Rubio said the US relationship with Israel would not be affected, but that he would discuss with the Israelis how the strike would affect Trump’s desire to secure the return of all the hostages held by Hamas, get rid of the terrorists and end the Gaza war.
“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them. We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” he said.
“There are still 48 hostages that deserve to be released immediately, all at once. And there is still the hard work ahead once this ends, of rebuilding Gaza in a way that provides people the quality of life that they all want.”
Rubio said it had yet to be determined who would do that, who would pay for it and who would be in charge of the process.
After Israel, Rubio is due to join Trump’s planned visit to Britain next week.
Hamas still holds 48 hostages, and Qatar has been one of the mediators, along with the US, trying to secure a ceasefire deal that would include the captives’ release.
On Tuesday, Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike on Doha. US officials described it as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests.
The strike on the territory of a close US ally sparked broad condemnation from other Arab states and derailed ceasefire and hostage talks brokered by Qatar.
On Friday, Rubio met with Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani at the White House, underscoring competing interests in the region that Rubio will seek to balance on his trip. Later that day, US President Donald Trump held dinner with the prime minister in New York.
Rubio’s trip comes ahead of high-level meetings at the United Nations in New York later this month. Countries including France and Britain are expected to recognize Palestinian statehood, a move opposed by Israel.
Washington says such recognition would bolster Hamas and Rubio has suggested the move could spur the annexation of the West Bank sought by hardline members of the Israeli government.
ON Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an agreement to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state. Last week, the United Arab Emirates warned that this would cross a red line and undermine the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords that normalized UAE-Israel relations in 2020.
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Netanyahu Posts Message Appearing to Confirm Hamas Leaders Survived Doha Strike
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a statement posted to social media on Saturday evening, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the Qatar-based leadership of Hamas, reiterating that the jihadist group had to regard for the lives of Gazans and represented an obstacle to ending the war and releasing the Israelis it held hostage.
The wording of Netanyahu’s message appeared to confirm that the strike targeting the Hamas leaders in Doha was not crowned with success.
“The Hamas terrorists chiefs living in Qatar don’t care about the people in Gaza,” wrote Netanyahu. “They blocked all ceasefire attempts in order to endlessly drag out the war.” He added that “Getting rid of them would rid the main obstacle to releasing all our hostages and ending the war.”
Israel is yet to officially comment on the result of the strike, which has incurred widespread international criticism.
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Trump Hosts Qatari Prime Minister After Israeli Attack in Doha
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
US President Donald Trump held dinner with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, days after US ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing US-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge.
Trump expressed annoyance about the strike in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought to assure the Qataris that such attacks would not happen again.
Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani were joined by a top Trump adviser, US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
“Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah Al-Muftah, said on X.
The White House confirmed the dinner had taken place but offered no details.
The session followed an hour-long meeting that al-Thani had at the White House on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha.
Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance US or Israeli interests.
Washington counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a main mediator in long-running negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and for a post-conflict plan for the territory.
Al-Thani blamed Israel on Tuesday for trying to sabotage chances for peace but said Qatar would not be deterred from its role as mediator.