The siege of Manhattan activists unmasked: Anti-Israel protesters who sparked fury by shutting down
An artist with millionaire parents, a woman recognized by former president Obama and Ivy League graduates were among hundreds of pro-Palestine who brought New York City to a halt.
The city was besieged by demonstrators from six groups who blocked major vehicle routes in and out of the city on Monday, leading to 325 arrests.
Protestors from at least six pro-Palestine groups coordinated to cause mass disruption, with blockades set up to halt traffic in and out of Manhattan.
Graduates from NYU, Columbia and Harvard as well as an out-of-town protestor make up just some of the hundreds that were issued desk appearance tickets.
Tickets were largely issued for disorderly conduct charges, meaning those responsible will likely be released without bail and appear in court later this year.
Artist Eli Coplan, whose family reportedly own homes worth upwards of $4 million in California and in Colorado, was also arrested
Three demonstrators, wearing face coverings, are led off the bridge on Monday afternoon after hours of disruption
Brooklyn Bridge, which connects downtown Manhattan to Dumbo in Brooklyn, is swarmed by police arresting the protesters on Monday
Among those arrested was Naye Idriss, a graduate of Columbia University and an NYU student.
Idriss, 25, previously lost her on-campus job at NYU and was charged with vandalism after anti-Semitic remarks appeared on a discarded mailbag.
The university would later go on to drop the charges against Idriss, who according to her social media is from Lebanon.
The phrase 'Free Palestine' had been scrawled on the discarded Israeli mailbag, and the word 'f***' had been added over the word Israel.
Footage of a protest taken last week and shared on social media shows Idriss address fellow protestors.
She can be heard saying: 'The true nature of Zionism as a cancer in the Arab region has been exposed.
'The Zionist state that exposes a threat not only to Palestine, not only to Arab people but all free people in this world. We are determined to see the fall of Israel.'
Fellow NYU student Ilana Cruger-Zaken was also arrested after the protest earlier this week.
According to a social media post seen by the New York Post, Cruger-Zaken celebrated being arrested, saying: 'And we'll do it again'.
Naye Idriss previously lost her on-campus job at NYU and was charged with vandalism after anti-Semitic remarks appeared on a discarded mailbag
WATCH Naye Idriss incite an anti-Israel crowd w/ classic Nazi rhetoric: Israel is "a cancer in the Arab region." Idriss then claims, "Zionism...is in ruins & we are contributing to its fall." Actually, not. You are just making the lives of NYers miserable. https://t.co/vLfWKpm4e3 pic.twitter.com/aLUhpOJGds
— Canary Mission (@canarymission) January 9, 2024
Fellow NYU student Ilana Cruger-Zaken was also arrested after the protest earlier this week
NYU law graduate Daniel Kim, who works for a non-profit named Bronx Defenders as an attorney was also present at the protest.
The post reported that Yale graduate Lina Cohn traveled from Massachusetts to block traffic in Manhattan, as well Treva Tam, from Georgia.
Tam graduated with a master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and was a Fulbright Scholar.
While Azani Creeks, a graduate from the Harvard Divinity School, was also involved in the protest.
Creeks now works as a Campaign/Research Coordinator for anti-Wall Street group the Private Equity Stakeholder Project.
As well as students, the post reported that Pratt Institute teacher Ann Holder, 66, had also been involved the wide spread protests.
Daniel Kim, who works for a non-profit named Bronx Defenders as an attorney, was also present at the protest and is a graduate of NYU
Treva Tam, from Georgia, reportedly travelled to the Big Apple to halt traffic in the city
Holder had participated in a scholars strike at the Downtown Brooklyn School in 2020 during the Black Lives Matter movement.
The outlet reported that in 2022, Holder purchased a $1.2 million two-bedroom condo in the Prospect Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn.
The most high profile of all the arrests appears to have been Sunita Viswanath who was recognized by former president Barack Obama.
Viswanath had also previously been an advisor to NYC Mayor Eric Adams' transition team.
The human right activist was hailed as a 'Champion of Change' by President Obama in 2015.
The post said that Viswanath and her husband Stephan Shaw spent 15 hours in custody before she was released.
She later shared pictures of the protest at the Brooklyn Bridge on social media, writing: 'This was my small group, blocking traffic to Brooklyn Bridge yesterday morning.'
Sunita Viswanath was recognized by former president Barack Obama and previously worked for NYC Mayor Eric Adams transition team
Pratt Institute teacher Ann Holder, 66, had participated in a scholars strike at the Downtown Brooklyn School in 2020 during the Black Lives Matter movement
Artist Eli Coplan, whose family reportedly own homes worth upwards of $4 million in California and in Colorado, was also arrested.
Coplan's parents own a home in La Jolla, California, and another in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, worth at least $1.7m.
The post reported that Coplan's mom Debra Coplan is a former board member of the ACLU, and his grandparents had been involved in the civil rights movement.
In a now deleted post seen by the post, Coplan, who is Jewish, admitted to participating in the action on Monday.
Coplan had also previously added his name to an open letter by Jewish writers that condemned Israel.
Fellow Jewish artists Nora Herzog was also among those hit with a disorderly conduct ticket.
Herzog, who is also a nonbinary drag queen, has previously used their account to condemn Israel and is a PhD candidate at NYU.
Nora Herzog, who is a nonbinary drag queen, was also among those hit with a disorderly conduct ticket
Brooklyn artist and filmmaker Ben Snyder who won an award at the Tribeca Film Festival award in 2022 was also arrested.
Snyder had worked for HBO as a producer for TV show 'Betty', and for Netflix on their show 'Grand Army'.
The Big Apple, which has the biggest Jewish population in the world outside of Israel, has been a hotbed for protests since the conflict started in October.
On Monday, a sign at New Jersey-bound Holland Tunnel - where traffic was brought to a halt around 10am - read: 'Lift the siege on Gaza. Ceasefire now.'
Groups of around 85 protesters sat at the entrance to the tunnel with Palestinian flags, chanting and cheering as one person screamed through a megaphone.
The Big Apple, which has the biggest Jewish population in the world outside of Israel, has been a hotbed for protests since the conflict started in October
They shouted in unison: 'Free, free Palestine. Stop the Zionist occupation.'
At Manhattan Bridge, swathes of beeping vehicles could be heard as the protesters got in position and formed a human chain across the entry path into the city.
Once they were locked in a line, another gang of protesters formed a row behind them, holding large signs and screaming: 'Shut it down!'
At Brooklyn Bridge, around 40 protesters sat crossed-legged in the middle of the road as raging traffic was blocked from entering, just after the peak of rush hour.
Demonstrators strapped their arms together with metal tubes, concrete and tires in their latest attempt to demand a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.
Videos showed that as the police presence escalated, some of the disruptive protesters were carted away in handcuffs.
At Williamsburg Bridge, protesters used similar tactics to cause traffic chaos by sprawling themselves in a linked line across the entry.
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