By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh

Following the deadly and brutal attacks by Hamas on Israel, tensions have spilled over to Jewish and Muslim communities across the Big Apple.  New York City has seen impassioned protests and rallies from both sides in recent days, as Israel prepared for a ground invasion in Gaza.

As reported by the NY Times, on Saturday, roughly 5,000 people attended a rally supporting Palestinians in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, which has a heavy Arab population.  The largely peaceful protest calling for Israel to stop killing civilians in Gaza.  The rally, organized by the group Within our Lifetime, culminated in 19 people being arrested, some of them for clashing with the police.  On Thursday, there had been a pro-Israel demonstration near Times Square, in which Jewish community members gathered to demand the release of over 200 hostages still being held by Hamas terrorists.

On Friday, there had been another pro-Palestinian rally in Midtown Manhattan, during which some 139 people were arrested, mostly for blocking traffic, as per the police.  They were all given summons for disorderly conduct and released. “So many people in New York City have family back home, and they’re scared to death and they’re angry and afraid,” Justin Brannan, a city councilman for Bay Ridge, said on Sunday. “I think it’s important that we acknowledge that justice for one group won’t come through the erasure of another.”

NYC is home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, and also one of the country’s biggest Muslim communities. There were more anti-Israel protests on multiple NY university campuses on Thursday and Friday, including at Columbia and Hunter.  On Sunday, across the city there were at least four demonstrations — in Midwood and Flatbush, Brooklyn; Jackson Heights, Queens; and near Central Park in Manhattan, per Police.

The increased tension between the two sides has led to anti-Semitic and anti-Islamic attacks in NY.  On Friday night, police arrested two men who they suspect were part of a larger group that shouted anti-Muslim slurs while attacking three other men on Oct. 11. The suspects were charged with assault, menacing and aggravated harassment- all which were classified as hate crimes, as per the NY Times.

Mitch Silber, executive director of the Community Security Initiative, a group that tracks anti-Semitic bias in NYC, said that hate incidents had more than doubled since Oct. 7, when Hamas attacked Israel, from about one every other day to more than one daily. The reported incidents ranged from shouting slurs and graffiti of swastikas to shooting Jewish men with BBs.  He added that while the increase in hate was concerning, there have been no serious threats of deadly violence in NY and that his group is counseling Jewish institutions to “keep calm and carry on.”

Politicians and community leaders have been getting involved, and taking sides.  The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) released a statement this month in which it “condemned alleged anti-Palestinian attacks in Brooklyn and called on public officials and the media to end anti-Palestinian incitement.”

A group named ‘Bronx Solidarity with Palestine’, circulated a “Wanted for Genocide” poster targeting and posting a picture of Representative Ritchie Torres, a Democrat from the Bronx.  “I won’t shy away from fighting for my Jewish constituents who feel threatened by the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust,” Torres said in a message on X, formerly Twitter.