Anti-Israel protesters burn Israeli flag, spray fake blood on NY Times building

Subway

By Steven Vago and Patrick Reilly

Hundreds of anti-Israel protesters calling for the elimination of the Jewish state stormed Grand Central Terminal on Friday night, furiously banging and kicking a locked entrance to the station that was forced to temporarily close due to the rowdy demonstration.

The mob was part of a “Flood Manhattan for Gaza” protest that initially hit Columbus Circle earlier in the evening, where they set fire to an Israeli flag and taunted a small faction of counter-protesters before marching through Manhattan and splattering fake blood on The New York Times Building.

“We don’t want a Jewish state. We want ’48!” the anti-Israel protesters chanted at the starting point, referring to Palestine before the creation of Israel.

“Settlers, settlers go home! Palestine is ours alone!” shouted the crowd.

“It is right to rebel. Israel, go to hell!” other song.

On the other side of the street stood a small group of Israel supporters. Gregory Jachts, a 56-year-old Bergen County resident, said he found it “offensive that they are here chanting to eliminate Israel.”

“They sang from the river to the sea, and it calls for the elimination of Israel and the genocide of the Jews,” said Jachts, who is not Jewish but has family in Israel.

Several protesters confronted a pro-Israel woman who held her hand over her mouth and tried to fight back tears as an NYPD officer spoke to her.

“Cry bra, cry!” a masked man shouted at the distraught woman and a handful of other pro-Israel protesters behind a police barricade.

“You Zionist mothers!” he said before the police pushed him along.

“You have no f—-g support! Fuck you! I’ll f—-k you up if I see you!” a Palestinian supporter shouted at another pro-Israel protester before police asked him to move.

The roughly 2,000 protesters marched east on 59th Street from Columbus Circle, pasting stickers reading “Zionism is terrorism” and “Israel is committing genocide in Gaza!” on the windows and doors of the Dior store on 5th Avenue.

Anna Ahmed, 40, who lives in Midtown, held a Palestinian flag as she marched. She told The Post she wanted to see an end to the violence.

“Since ’48, Israel came and occupied Palestine. Since that day and today they have been killing children and children. Every day they are bombing hospitals, children and schools and houses,” she said.

More than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, since Israel responded to Hamas’ surprise attack on October 7 that left about 1,200 Israelis dead.

The protesters projected the messages “Palestine will be free”, “Stop apartheid”, “Stop funding Israel” and “Stop imperialism” on the Museum of Modern Art building before heading towards Times Square.

The group turned south and rampaged toward two different Starbucks stores on 6th Avenue and Madison Avenue, prompting workers to lock the doors at one location.

“Shut it down! Shut it down!” they screamed as patrons and staff looked on.

“You make drinks for genocide! You make drinks for genocide!” shouted others.

Some left pro-Palestinian stickers on the windows as a large group of officers stood in front of the door.

They then sprayed fake blood on the iconic New York Times building, where hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters took over on Thursday.

“F–k the New York Times!” chanted the crowd.

“Zionist media. It’s the Zionist media. I see you again, b—h!” a Palestine supporter shouted at a journalist before police separated them.

“Fuck go back to where you came from! Do you feel a certain way? Go back to where the f–k you came from!” a frustrated passerby told a Palestinian supporter outside the Times building.

The march continued to Grand Central Terminal, where protesters tried to force their way inside the locked doors.

“1,2, 3,4! Open the central doors!” they shout from officers who stood inside behind barricades. Some protesters tore up posters showing missing hostages

A protester kicked in one of the doors and broke the glass. Another hit a door with the tip of a flagpole.

Dozens of police surrounded the terminal and ordered the crowd – which had dwindled to a few hundred – to disperse.

The entrances to Grand Central were closed Friday night because of the demonstration.

Pro-Palestinian protesters shut down the train station during a demonstration last month in which more than 300 people were arrested.

At least one man was seen being arrested Friday night near Lexington Avenue and 43rd Street by several police officers as protesters heckled the police.

“NYPD, KKK, IDF! They’re all the same!” the crowd taunted the police.

Police confirmed that several people had been arrested, but they did not have a final tally.