U.S. extremists echo Gaza terror slogans, proving Arab-backed hatred now targets American Jews directly.
The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a federal civil-rights investigation into a volatile anti-Israel protest that unfolded just steps from Manhattan’s historic Park East Synagogue, the New York Sun reported.
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon announced Sunday:
“Every time we see violence around a house of worship, we take action. A federal investigation is underway.”
She emphasized the DOJ’s “zero tolerance” for obstruction or intimidation near any American house of worship, signaling the seriousness with which federal authorities view the incident.
The protest occurred last week when roughly 200 anti-Israel demonstrators converged outside the synagogue to oppose an event hosted by Nefesh B’Nefesh, the organization that helps North American Jews immigrate to Israel.
What followed was a barrage of hate-filled chants that echoed openly genocidal rhetoric used by terror groups:
- “Death to the IDF!”
- “We don’t want no Zionists here!”
- “From New York to Gaza, globalize the intifada!”
- “Resistance you make us proud, take another settler out!”
- And the chilling phrase “one solution”—a phrase historically linked to violence against Jews.
Many protesters wore keffiyehs, while barricades and heavy NYPD deployment were required to prevent a full-scale confrontation. Shoving erupted between agitators and counter-protesters, and activists hurled insults at police, though no arrests were made.
Local leaders condemned the protest, but controversy erupted when a spokesperson for mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani issued a muddled statement: while denouncing the protest, they claimed that “sacred spaces should not be used to promote activities in violation of international law.” The spokesperson failed to explain what part of helping Jews immigrate to Israel constitutes a violation, leaving many to question the political motivation behind the comment.
The protest occurred amid a surge in antisemitic incidents across New York City. According to NYPD hate-crime data released the day before Mamdani’s election:
- 62% of all hate-crime victims last month were Jewish
- 29 antisemitic incidents occurred out of a total of 47
On the very day Mamdani won the election, swastikas were found spray-painted on Magen David Yeshiva in Brooklyn.
Just days later, Brooklyn residents discovered antisemitic graffiti reading “Fk Jews”** scrawled on a sidewalk in Cobble Hill—yet another reminder that antisemitic hostility in the city has reached its most dangerous levels in years.
These events paint a stark picture: as Arab-backed extremist rhetoric spills into American streets, U.S. Jews increasingly become targets, even outside their houses of worship. The DOJ’s investigation may signal a turning point—but the threat is unmistakably real, immediate, and escalating.
