The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony in New York City was marred by arrests and clashes on Wednesday. Anti-Israel demonstrators carrying Palestinian flags and, in one case, a swastika sign descended on the event, running into police barricades about a block away.
At least seven people were arrested attempting to disrupt the lighting of the 80-foot-tall Norway spruce. Video shows demonstrators and police officers throwing fists at each other, and flags being swung like clubs.
There’s someone with a swastika sign at the Free Palestine protest outside the Rockefeller Center tree lighting in NYC tonight. @CBSNewYork https://t.co/o8TOcH6zTj pic.twitter.com/5dMOBBftn2
— Ali Bauman (@AliBaumanTV) November 29, 2023
Around 1,000 people are reported to have participated in the demonstration. Nardeen Kiswani, of the Within Our Lifetime organization, claimed demonstrators were simply asking for “an end to the ongoing bombing of Gaza, the end to the siege and blockade that continues to place a chokehold on the Palestinian people.”
Eyewitnesses, however, say “the crowd came and attacked,” resulting in a “melee” with the police.
Surely a silent majority is not cool with violent Palestine extremists trying to take down America’s most celebrated holiday traditions from the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade to the Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Center. pic.twitter.com/8mJbHbecnM
— Max Abrahms (@MaxAbrahms) November 30, 2023
The lighting took place on the so-called International Day of Solidarity With the Palestinian People, instituted in 1977.