Sen. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania Democrat, lit into anti-Israel demonstrators who clashed with police outside a Manhattan synagogue Tuesday night, calling them “pro-Hezbollah/Hamas” and publicly demanding that his own party speak out against the unrest.
“Mob of Pro-Hezbollah / Hamas s—-heads raging against law enforcement and terrorizing the NYC Jewish community near a synagogue and day care,” Mr. Fetterman wrote in a Wednesday post on X. “Where’s my party’s condemnation?”
The senator shared video footage of the demonstration, in which protesters could be heard chanting what sounded like anti-Zionist slogans.
The protest, organized by the group Pal-Awda NY, targeted Park East Synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, which had rented space for the Great Israeli Real Estate Event, according to The Forward. Roughly 100 demonstrators gathered on Lexington Avenue while several hundred more assembled near Hunter College on Third Avenue, effectively surrounding the synagogue from both sides, according to the Combat Antisemitism Movement.
The group reported that protesters chanted “Death to the IDF,” “There is only one solution, intifada revolution,” and “End the settler Zionist state.” Some demonstrators formed inverted red triangle symbols with their hands — a symbol associated with Hamas target markings. As the crowd attempted to push through metal barricades toward the synagogue, demonstrators directed expletives at NYPD officers. Counter-protesters gathered across the street holding signs reading “Antizionism is a hate movement.”
Park East Synagogue said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital that it “remains steadfast in our commitment to peaceful worship” and expressed gratitude for the NYPD’s response.
Mr. Fetterman, a staunch supporter of Israel, has repeatedly broken with his party over demonstrations he views as antisemitic.
“In the face of consistent attacks, past and present, our special ally and its people have shown true strength and resilience,” he wrote on X last month in a post about Israel.
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