Activists arrested at Jewish group’s pro-Palestine protest at President Trump’s New York hotel

"It is an unbearable, unspeakable, unfathomable affront to our shared humanity and those who are carrying it out and are deploying our Jewish symbols, language and traditions to defend and justify it, which is why I’m heartened to see such a range of Jews and Jewish organizations coming together today to say with one voice that we oppose these atrocities, not in spite of our Judaism, but for many of us, because of it.

“We need the US government to use its considerable leverage to end these horrors."

Other speakers included former Democratic mayoral candidate Ruth Messinger, Rabbi Jill Jacobs – the CEO of The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights (T’ruah) – and Brad Lander, the city comptroller.

Lander said: “Yesterday was the Jewish holiday of Tisha B’Av in which Jews mourn the destruction of the people of Israel.

"What we’re witnessing right now is destruction caused by the State of Israel.

“It's been going on for many months but to witness forced mass starvation, emaciated children and starving of families, on top of all the bombing and destruction and displacement, it is necessary for Jews to cry out louder, to do more organising to make sure that we stop sending offensive weapons and bombs and guns that we demand an end to what Israel is doing in Gaza. That’s why we’re here tonight.”

Israel denies that it is intentionally starving the population of Gaza, arguing that sufficient aid has been sent to the Strip and that shortages are caused by looting and failures in the UN’s distribution network. It has also consistently denied claims that it is attempting to ethnically cleanse the territory.

Also at the protest was Lily Greenberg Call, a former special assistant to the chief of staff at the US Department of the Interior under the Biden administration, who resigned in protest in May 2024 over the US government’s response to the conflict.

Speaking to The Guardian, Greenberg said: “I was the first, and unfortunately the only Jewish official to publicly resign in protest of the administration’s unconditional support for Israel during the war in Gaza.

“There is something shifting. Showing up [at protests] is really important.

“We have an obligation, specifically as American Jews, to stand up against what’s happening in our name."

Police confirmed that a number of protesters were arrested for blocking the street outside the hotel. A Guardian journalist at the scene “counted at least 40” arrests, according to the paper’s report. They were loaded into police vans as the rest of the crowd gradually dispersed.