Thousands of pro-Palestine demonstrators swarmed Manhattan streets Friday afternoon — as an Israeli contingent a fraction of its size pushed back — the same day an ex-Hamas leader issued a rallying cry for a global “day of Jihad.”
Helicopters whirled overhead as the protest began on CUNY’s Baruch College campus — starting with a group of about 100 — with the protesters taking part in the Friday afternoon call to prayer, observed by practicing Muslims.
Then cries of “Free, Free Palestine!” rang out in the crowd.
Protesters carried signs bearing that same message, as well as, “Where is humanity? Palestinians are people,” “Resistance is justified when people are occupied” and “Resistance is not terrorism! Free Palestine!”
Two people were arrested at the Baruch demonstration, two on the pro-Palestine side and one member of the pro-Israeli opposing contingent, the NYPD said.
A video posted to X shows a middle-aged man being detained by a group of police officers. Talia Jane, who posted the clip, said that the man had been carrying flyers about people “kidnapped by Hamas.”
He yelled, “Shame on you!” at the pro-Palestine group and slammed them as “not human,” Talia wrote.
The crowd swelled in number as the group headed further north, toward Times Square.
Once they reached the busy tourist hub, the pro-Palestine contingent chanted: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”
“Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israeli’s crimes!” the group shouted. “Israel, you can’t hide. You’re committing genocide!”
“Resistance is justified when people face genocide!”
“Shut it down!”
One protester on the Palestinian side, 23-year-old grad student Zara K. of Long Island — who said she has friends in Gaza trying to flee — argued that the “Palestinian people have been fighting the [Israeli] occupation for 75 years now.”
“People can condemn Hamas, but if you’re going to condemn Hamas, you need to condemn Israel’s crimes as well,” she told The Post.
Omair Sheikh, 37, from Pakistan, lamented that civilians on both sides are “dying for no reason.”
“Right now it’s disastrous for the civilians in Palestine,” Sheikh said.
“It’s the same thing for the civilians in Israel.”
“Israel should stop killing Palestinian civilians that are not even armed. They should stop the war and have peace.”
A comparatively small group of about 150 pro-Israeli protesters also assembled in Times Square.
“Hamas is ISIS! Hamas is Isis!” that crowd yelled at the larger assembly across the street.
“You support terror! You support terror!” they yelled.
“Terrorists! Terrorists! Terrorists!”
“Shame! Shame! Shame!” they screamed at a woman waving a Palestinian flag before cops separated them.
“Zionist pigs! Zionist pigs!” the Palestinian group shouted at the Israeli side, with one woman flipping the bird at Israel supporters.
“Israeli terrorists! Free, free Palestine!
“P—y, come here! Come here, p—y!” a Palestine supporter hollered at an Israeli supporter who mockingly waved at him behind the barricades.
Scores of cops were gathered in the area, where barricades were set up to separate the two factions.
Police appeared to play a game of cat-and-mouse every time a protester crossed over to the opposing side.
Linda Salamon, 62, a lawyer, described herself as “anti-Hamas.”
“I’m a child of Holocaust survivors and I see another Holocaust happening,” Salamon said.
“This is reminiscent of what happened to the Jews in 1945 when they were helpless. Thank God we have a country to go to. Israel is a result of the Holocaust. The fact that we have a homeland is something I cherish because my parents were almost killed.”
Salamon said she is “very disappointed” in the call from former Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal for a global “day of jihad” Friday.
“I’m very disappointed that they’re declaring a day of jihad,” she said.
“They went into Israel and attacked innocent people. Hamas uses their own people to hide behind.”
“They should be helping the people in Gaza,” added Salamon, who said she has two sisters in Israel.
“When Israel goes into Gaza, they give them a warning,” Salamon continued.
“[Hamas] gave them no warning.”
“I’m heartbroken about what’s happening.”
When asked what she thought of the other side, she replied: “I guess everyone has a right to protest but they’re misguided.”
By the late afternoon, the rapidly growing group of Palestine supporters headed east, toward the Israeli consulate on Second Avenue near East 43rd Street.
It was not immediately clear how many arrests, if any, were made during the Times Square portion of the demonstration.