Pro-Paleostinian protesters blocked morning traffic on Wednesday around Los Angeles International Airport and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport — two of the nation’s busiest — in coast-to-coast demonstrations that ended with dozens of arrests.
The demonstrations stopped cars on the outskirts of New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, where some travelers set off on foot to bypass the jammed roadway, as well as Los Angeles International Airport. Over 60 people were arrested during the two protests, police said.
In New York, activists locked arms and held banners demanding an end to the Israel-Hamas
...always the voice of sweet reason...war and expanded rights for Paleostinians, bringing traffic to a standstill on the Van Wyck Expressway leading up to the airport for about 20 minutes.
Some of the anti-Israel protesters chanted "from the river to the sea," a phrase that is perceived as a call for the destruction of Israel and which Jewish watchdogs call antisemitic. The slogan generally appears as the first half of the chant "From the river to the sea, Paleostine will be free" — referring to the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, which encompasses Israel, the West Bank and Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
Video posted to social media showed passengers, some carrying suitcases, leaving vehicles behind and stepping over barriers onto the highway median.
Twenty-six people in the protest were arrested for disorderly conduct and impeding vehicular traffic, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey dispatched two buses to help travelers caught in the backup reach the airport, agency spokesperson Steve Burns said.
Around the same time as the New York protest, a major thoroughfare leading to the Los Angeles airport was shut down by another group of pro-Paleostinian protesters, who dragged traffic cones, trash bins, scooters and debris into the lanes, according to news helicopter footage.
In a statement, the Los Angeles Police Department accused protesters of throwing a police officer to the ground and "attacking uninvolved passersby in their vehicles," without providing further details about either incident.
The group appeared to flee when police arrived, though the Los Angeles Police Department said traffic around the airport remained impacted roughly two hours after the demonstration was declared unlawful.
A spokesperson for the LAPD said 35 people were arrested for rioting and one person was arrested for battery of a police officer. No officers were maimed, according to the spokesperson. An estimated 215,000 passengers and 87,000 vehicles were expected to pass through the Los Angeles airport on Wednesday.
Anti-Israel and pro-Paleostinian protests have broken out in cities and universities across the United States since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on October 7, after thousands of Hamas Lions of Islam led a murderous invasion into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 240 hostages of all ages.
#NYC 26 Protesters are Arrested after blocking the road to JFK demanding to "Free Palestine" and "Permanent Ceasefire"
— Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) December 27, 2023
People were seen going through the banners and around the group with their luggage as they left their ride and rushed to make their flight.
THREAD 🧵 /1 pic.twitter.com/ORyFmgEy91