As ongoing student demonstrations in support of Gaza and Israel on New York City and other college campuses continue to dominate the nation’s television screens, along with what some see as controversial crackdowns on such protests by the NYPD and other police departments, around 20-30 people were seen rallying in support of Gaza outside the gates of Fordham University’s Bronx campus on Friday evening, May 3, at around 7 p.m. One attendee informed us that a sit-in by Fordham students had commenced earlier that day inside the walls of the college’s campus and was seemingly still ongoing.

 

The group, some waving Palestinian flags and signs in support of Palestine and located outside the college walls along East Fordham Road by Third Avenue on the border of Fordham Manor and Belmont, were heard chanting, “Free, Free Palestine!” and “From The Bronx to the Sea, Palestine will be free!” One sign read, “From the River to the Sea,” which some groups interpret as the wiping out of Israel from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, while others dispute this assertion. Others read, “Fund The Bronx, not War,” and “Fund Healthcare, not Genocide.”

 

Norwood News had covered an earlier protest in support of Gaza on Friday which began at 2 p.m. on Fordham Plaza [story to follow] across the street from the university and which was set to be followed by a “liberated train ride to support student Gaza encampments,” according to one rally flier which did not list an organizing party.

 

A separate press release from the Bronx Anti-War Coalition advised that the coalition, together with Healthcare Workers for Palestine, were the organizers of the 2 p.m. rally on Fordham Plaza. “The rally is a response to all Bronx elected officials who support the US/Israeli genocide in Gaza, which the organizers and participants say the people of The Bronx vehemently oppose,” the press release read.

It continued, “The rally is a gathering of students, teachers, healthcare workers, and constituents who say Bronx politicians are ignoring Israeli war crimes committed in Gaza because they receive or hope to receive money from Israeli lobby firms such as AIPAC.” The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies to the legislative and executive branches of the United States

The press release continued, “The protestors are also disgusted by the silence of Bronx politicians as students from The Bronx are being violently assaulted by the NYPD for their anti-genocide and pro-Palestine activism.”

Similar protests had been organized last year on Fordham Plaza and later on at least two occasions, as reported, outside the office of Bronx Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15) whose district stretches from the northwest of the borough to the South Bronx. More recently, some Jewish residents of the district sent a letter to the congressman voicing their opposition to his comments on the issue.

 

“Every single politician in The Bronx should be representing us, Bronxites, not Israel,” wrote Richie Merino, an organizer with the Bronx Anti-War Coalition, ahead of the earlier 2 p.m. rally. “We are anti-genocide and support freedom for the people of Palestine,” he said. “We also demand these elected officials spend money on things we need in the Bronx like healthcare, schools, housing, and jobs programs, instead of funding the NYPD’s racist violence and Israel’s genocide in Gaza.”

The group wrote that the rally would also “highlight Israel’s destruction of healthcare infrastructure and universities in Gaza, as well as their deliberate targeting of healthcare and aid workers for assassination.”

 

The press release concluded, “The rally demands all Bronx politicians cease their support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza, cease releasing statements and supporting legislation that conflates criticism of Israel’s genocide in Gaza with antisemitism, and condemn the NYPD’s violent crackdown on Bronx students’ anti-genocide and pro-Palestine activism.”

 

When Norwood News saw the group of protestors rallying outside the university later on Friday, across the street from the site of the earlier 2 p.m. rally on Fordham Plaza, we asked if the rally outside the university was an extension of the earlier rally or if it was a different one. One male protestor told us be believed it was the same and referred me to his female colleague.’

 

At the same time, a group of people who appeared to be part of a sit-in were seen at a distance of around 200 metres inside the walls of the university in a green area, waving Palestinian flags while the separate rally took place outside on East Fordham Road. University security personnel were seen guarding the gates of the college. A video of the sit-in can be seen here. We asked the female protestor outside the gates, in reference to those gathered inside the campus, if she knew if the sit-in had started on the campus earlier that day.

“Well, it started today,” said the young woman who, when asked, said her name was Nas. Asked if she had more details about what the sit-in entailed and if it was also an encampment, Nas said,”We’re sitting in. We’re protesting, as is our right. We’re here for divestment. The students are here for divestment. I’m not a student at Fordham. The students are here for divestment. They’re here so that this crooked, crooked school will stop funding Israel.”

 

Asked if she knew if the students inside had negotiated directly with the university about its alleged support of Israel and about the divestment demands, Nas said, “Not sure.” We shared our contact information and asked if she knew if any of the students wanted to speak to the media. “No,” she said. We reiterated our offer to speak to them at any point, if they wished.

The protestors outside the college could later be heard chanting, “If [inaudible] doesn’t get it, shut it down! If the New School doesn’t get it, shut it down! If Columbia doesn’t get it, shut it down! If [inaudible] doesn’t get it, shut it down!”

 

The male protestor who we had spoken to earlier and who was using a megaphone was heard saying, apparently in reference to a handful of police officers who were standing a short distance away from the group on East Fordham Road, “These police are scared of people out in poetry shows.” The police were in regular police uniform, not riot gear and some appeared to be from a community affairs unit.

“Y’all get paid enough,” the male protestor continued, before seemingly adding [as the sound was muffled through the megaphone], “You’re the reason we say the NYPD is KKK. You’re all the same, ’cause just like the KKK, the NYPD doesn’t even have a real job. They do NOT have a real job! WE, we have a real job!”

 

He continued, “Our job is liberation. Our job is freeing Palestine. Our job is ending colonialism here and [in] Palestine, and the Congo and [inaudible / Puerto Rico?]. Yo, we got a big job! We got a big job and those people do not have your jobs! They would not have your jobs. They have one mission – to stop us.” He then asked, “Once again, can they stop us?” to which the crowd responded in unison “No!”

 

The following exchanges ensued: “Can they stop the students? No! Can they stop the teachers? No! Can they stop our [inaudible / mothers??] No! Can they stop New Yorkers? No! Can they stop The Bronx? No! CAN   THEY   STOP   THE    BRONX?   NO!”

 

The protestor continued, “They tried to burn us. They tried to sell our people.. [inaudible].. in Mississippi.. for decades…Now, everyone organize….we have been fighting for a movement not to kill us for decades and we weren’t even organized…. You all know the chant.. They say we will not stop. We will not rest because we have a job to do, unlike some people, but they get retirement..so.. Let’s go! Divest! We will not stop! We will not rest! Let’s go! Divest! We will not stop! We will not rest!” When a bus passed by and the driver sounded its horn, the crowed cheered in unison in response.

We spoke to some people standing near the protestors who were seemingly observing them and asked for their thoughts on the rally. One man said, “I agree with them.” Asked if he wanted to expand on his thoughts, he didn’t say much and it was also difficult to hear him amid the chants. Asked what he worked at, he said he was a grad student at Fordham.

 

For balance, we asked the man if he believed Israel had a right to defend itself, about the allegations by some in the Jewish community of antisemitism on the part of demonstrators [generally] who seemingly support Hamas, as well as for his general thoughts on the handling by the Israeli government of the response to the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack by Hamas in southern Israel.

 

“I don’t think ‘defending’ is the same thing as killing 40,000 people,” he said in referece to the approximate number of Palestinians killed in retaliation for the terrorist attack since Oct. 7. “It’s not defending at all,” he added.

 

Acknowledging the thousands of innocent Palestinians who have been killed in the conflict to date since Oct. 7, we asked what the man would say in response to the oft-cited Israeli argument by the Israel Defense Force (IDF) that it is not targeting civilians, but Hamas. The man said, “Well, that’s a pretty collective punishment. They’re targeting – what is it? 30,000 people out of 2.3 million and there’s also some repression going on in the West Bank, where Hamas doesn’t even exist.”

As of May 1, according to the live tracker for Qatari news outlet, Al Jazeera, 1,139 people have been killed in Israel since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Southern Israel and took around 240 Israelis hostage, some of whom have since been released.

 

The same media outlet reports that as of May 1 at least 8,730 have been injured in Israel. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reports that at least 34,568 people, including more than 14,500 children and 8,400 women, have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023.

 

The outlet also reports that more than 77,765 people have been injured in Gaza and more than 8,000 are missing. Al Jazeera further reports that in the Occupied West Bank, at least 492 people, including more than 124 children, have been killed and 4,800 have been injured since Oct. 7, 2023.

 

On Sunday, May 5, citing remarks from Netanyahu, German news organization DW News reported that the Israeli cabinet has decided to stop Al Jazeera TV from operating within Israel. DW News reported that the decision follows a law passed by the Israeli Knesset that allows the closure of foreign broadcasters considered to pose a security threat amid the war in Gaza.

 

DW News went on to report that it was not clear from Netanyahu’s statement when the ban would come into effect, adding that Israel has had a tense relationship with Al Jazeera which, according to DW News, “has intensely covered the ongoing war in Gaza giving greater weight to the Palestinian side.” Meanwhile, DW News also reported that Qatar has been involved in mediating a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

Meanwhile, most international media groups are precluded from reporting from inside Gaza. At the end of February, the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Gutierrez, said he was “appalled by the tragic human toll of the conflict in Gaza” where more than 30,000 people have now reportedly been killed and over 70,000 injured.

“Intense Israeli bombardment from air, land and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement and destruction of civilian infrastructure, according to the latest situation report from UN humanitarian agency OCHA,” the United Nations reported also at the end of February.

Norwood News contacted Fordham University for comment on the Bronx campus protest and the college had “no comment at this time.”  We will share any updates we receive.

For those wishing to donate to help humanitarian efforts in the region, UNICEF is coordinating aid for those affected by the conflict.

 

To read some of our related coverage of this topic, which includes some op-eds from residents, click here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here. here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.