Anti-Israel protesters hail ‘resistance’ at New York ceasefire rally
Hundreds at Times Square demonstration chant for ‘intifada,’ vow to keep protesting even after hostage agreement
Luke Tress is The Times of Israel's New York correspondent.

NEW YORK — Hundreds hailed the Palestinian “resistance” at a rally in New York City’s Times Square marking the ceasefire-hostage deal on Thursday night.
The crowd carried signs that said, “The movement continues until Palestine is free,” and “Resistance against occupation is a human right.”
The protesters chanted, “Resistance is glorious, we will be victorious,” and “Long live the intifada.”
Speakers urged the crowd to continue its anti-Israel activism, despite the ceasefire announcement.
“Our work is only beginning,” a speaker told the crowd. “Gaza has taught us that the enemy’s defeat is clear and in sight.”
Another hailed the “heroism of resistance” and the “Al Aqsa Flood,” Hamas’s name for the October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel.
“The price has been devastatingly high but so it has been in every revolution,” she said. “Now is not the time to rest, but to reignite the fire.”
“Today marks a new phase and we won’t let up after a ceasefire,” she said, as snow dusted the crowd and police and passersby looked on.
Activists passed out fliers advertising another rally to mark the presidential inauguration on Monday.
At least two men in the crowd wore Hamas headbands, one of whom had a peace symbol stitched to his backpack. Another held a banner for Samidoun, a US-designated terrorist entity.
The rally was organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement, a US activist group, and attended by several socialist organizations such as the People’s Forum.
A handful of pro-Israel counter-protesters sang “the nation of Israel lives” in Hebrew and heckled the anti-Israel demonstrators across a police barricade.
Anti-Israel groups in New York also celebrated the ceasefire agreement in public statements.
“Gaza has won, Palestine has won, resistance has won. Imperialism and Zionism have lost, the Democratic Party has lost, the future of the Zionist state continues to be eroded,” said Within Our Lifetime, the most prominent anti-Israel activist group in the city.
Anti-Israel activists have held hundreds of protests around New York City, starting on October 8, 2023, the day after the Hamas attack.