24 April
On the evening of 24 April, pro-Palestinian demonstrators organized by Within Our Lifetime (WOL) first assembled outside the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters in the Crown Heights neighborhood to protest Ben-Gvir's planned visit to the site. [3] [5] Ben-Gvir, who had been visiting the United States, was only invited to the area by community members and not formally by the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters. [3] [4]
Hundreds of pro-Israeli counterprotestors– many of them Hasidic Orthodox Jewish men– also gathered at the scene, and violent clashes broke out between the two sides. [3] [5] Hasidic counterprotestors were seen shoving a protestor from Neturei Karta to the ground and kicking him. [3] Another demonstrator wearing a keffiyeh was also seen bloodied. [4] According to Chabad-Lubavitch spokesman Rabbi Motti Seligson, the pro-Palestinian protestors were also violent and were using pepper spray. [3]
Inside the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters' main synagogue, Ben-Gvir led prayer, participated in a celebration of Torah study, gave a speech, and led attendees in a chant about the coming of the Messiah. [3]
At one point, an uninvolved woman who had been watching the protests was confronted and harassed by the crowd of pro-Israeli demonstrators, who began shouting profanities, threatened to rape her, hurled objects at her, and chanted "Death to Arabs", until the New York City Police Department (NYPD) escorted her to safety. [5] [10] [2]
In total, six people were arrested. [5]
27 April
Pro-Palestinian protestors assembled in Gravesend, Brooklyn, in front of two synagogues, one of which was preparing to host Ben-Gvir. However, his planned speech for that morning was canceled. Pro-Israeli counterprotestors also arrived at the area. By early afternoon the pro-Palestinian protestors had left, and again, six people in total were arrested. [5] Local pro-Israeli publication The Jewish Voice shared footage of scuffles between protestors and the NYPD in the neighborhood. [1]
28 April
In anticipation of renewed protests in Crown Heights, the administration of the Tomchei Tminim at the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters released a letter to yeshiva students instructing them to refrain from counterprotesting and to remain focused on their studies. [11]
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators organized a rally outside Barclays Center that night, chiefly in response to the 24 April attack on the uninvolved woman, and subsequently marched towards the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters. However, the NYPD prevented them from entering Crown Heights. One protestor was arrested. [6]
