The George Floyd riots of 2020 showed leftists that they can do virtually anything in America today and suffer at worst only token consequences. On Monday, pro-Palestinian protesters in New York City showed that they have taken that lesson to heart.
The New York Post reported that “hateful anti-Israel protesters yelling inflammatory chants snarled traffic and caused chaos as they descended upon John F. Kennedy International Airport Monday – creating a nightmare on one of the busiest travel days of the year.” Among the “inflammatory chants” was “NYPD, KKK, IDF you’re all the same,” which was as absurd as it was portentous: it was a clear indication that New York City hasn’t seen the last of these pro-Hamas thugs.
That is even clearer in light of the fact that the JFK Airport protest was the handiwork of Within Our Lifetime, which the Post describes as a “Palestinian-led activist group.” The Post also reported in mid-November that Within Our Lifetime “shared a frightening map of New York City newsrooms, businesses, and landmark buildings — and called for ‘direct action’ to ‘globalize intifada.’”
Among the “direct action” on Monday were “balloons floating in the air above JFK” during the protest, at least one of which was captured on video. An NYPD source stated that “the FBI is investigating who let the balloons go because they could cause a threat to aviation safety.” As of this writing on Tuesday morning, however, no arrests have been made in connection with the balloons, and all in all, only seven protesters even received summonses. The low number was despite the fact that the protests led to the delay of sixty flights and innumerable travelers were held up for hours going to or from the airport on New Year’s Day.
After all, the cops had plenty of opportunity to make numerous arrests. The Post noted that “around 100 cars left from Canarsie earlier in an effort to halt travel at JFK – but were denied entry into Terminal 4, where photos showed an armored NYPD vehicle parked in a lane near the terminal’s exit.” On Monday afternoon, Within Our Lifetime stated that the “airport is swarming with law enforcement and organizers were removed from Terminal 4.” Yet only seven people received a summons.
What’s more, “after being turned away from JFK, the car caravan left the area and headed to LaGuardia Airport, creating more congestion on the Grand Central Parkway, according to an NYPD advisory posted on X shortly after 3 p.m. But the group met a similar fate as they were also blocked from entering the second airport, according to Brooklyn Councilwoman Inna Vernikov.” Clearly, this protest was a massive operation involving large numbers of people. Would the NYPD have been more energetic in stopping this protest if it had been, say, a pro-Trump demonstration against election fraud? To ask the question is to answer it.
Even more ominous was the fact that some protesters were displaying the Hamas flag. The U.S. State Department, even in these dark days of the Biden regime, still lists Hamas as a terror organization. And so now we have open support for a terror organization displayed in the same city where terrorists who had the same ideology as Hamas murdered nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001. In response, we get a travel advisory: “NYPD Chief of Transportation Philip Rivera advised travelers to plan their travel ahead of time and be prepared for delays due to planned protests. The Port Authority noted that travelers should build in additional travel time for typically heavy traffic during the holidays as well.”
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Hey, that’s great advice: pro-terror savages are shutting down a major American airport, so…be prepared for delays! Not: “We are not going to tolerate this and will arrest all those who are involved.” Not: “We are launching a major investigation into support for Hamas in the United States and will shut down all Hamas-linked organizations and deport non-citizens who are involved in promoting Hamas’ goals in this country.” Instead, the Post noted laconically that “no arrests had been made by early Monday evening.”
Oh, and understandably, “the NYPD did not immediately return requests for comment.” What could it say when the clear import of what happened on Monday is that they’re allowing the ideology of the protesters, which the left shares, to overwhelm any lingering sense of duty to the public that they may have?
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