“We have to scare them”: New York synagogue protest crosses new red lines
NEW YORK – At a protest Wednesday night at the entrance to a New York synagogue, a masked demonstrator stood above the crowd and urged those in attendance to intimidate Jews.
“It is our duty to make them think twice before holding these events,” he said, referring to a gathering at the synagogue of Nefesh B’nefesh, a group that helps Jews immigrate to Israel.
“We have to scare them. We have to scare them. We have to scare them,” he shouted as the roughly 200 protesters in the crowd repeated every phrase in unison, a tactic the activists use to amplify their speeches without using a loudspeaker, which requires additional permission.
There have been more than 3,000 protests in New York City since Hamas invaded Israel in October 2023, but Wednesday night’s demonstration outside the Park East Synagogue was an escalation, highlighting the new normal for the city’s Jews, despite the ceasefire in Gaza.
On October 8, 2023, a day after the Hamas invasion, protests erupted in the city as activists gathered to celebrate the massacre, sparking shock and outrage in the Jewish community. While anti-Zionist protests were already commonplace, the demonstrations at the beginning of the war gave a new tenor to their celebration of violence.
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In the months that followed, activists continued to cross red lines as Gaza’s death toll rose, targeting cancer patients, destroying museums and libraries, disrupting holiday events and demonstrating against memorials to the dead. The leading activist groups make it clear that they do not seek coexistence, two states or an end to the conflict, but rather the annihilation of the Jewish state.
Below: Audio recording of a protest leader addressing the crowd outside Park East Synagogue on November 19, 2025.
However, demonstrations in front of synagogues were relatively rare. After the war began, scattered protests broke out in synagogues in New York and surrounding towns in New Jersey to demonstrate against events promoting real estate in Israel. Protests in synagogues tend to be particularly vitriolic, as do demonstrations in heavily Jewish neighborhoods.
Wednesday night’s rally represented an escalation as it was the first to target such a prominent synagogue in the heart of Manhattan, which did not sell real estate and was marked by uglier, more threatening and violent rhetoric than usual.
Chants at the protest included:
- “Death, death to the IDF”
- “Globalize the Intifada from New York to Gaza”
- “Say it loud, say it clearly, we don’t want Zionists here.”
- “Resistance, you make us proud, drive out another settler”
- “We don’t want two states, we want 48”
- “Resistance is justified”
- “No peace on stolen land”
- “Settlers, settlers, go back home, Palestine is ours alone.”
In the dozens of protests covered by The Times of Israel in recent years, demonstrators had never before chanted “Death to the IDF” or “Death to anyone,” but the chant erupted repeatedly Wednesday night. The slogan “Take out another settler” was also new.
A Jewish man argues with anti-Zionist protesters in front of the Park East Synagogue in New York City, November 19, 2025. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
The protest was organized and promoted by the city’s leading activist groups, including several student organizations.
“No settlers on stolen land. Protest the Settler Recruitment Fair,” said the posts promoting the event.
Anti-Zionist activists often brand all Jewish Israelis as “settlers” in order to delegitimize Jewish existence in Israel.
Protesters were allowed to gather right next to the synagogue school entrance, forcing those in attendance to walk past them to get inside. The activists later released videos of Jews entering the synagogue, branding them “settlers” in the videos, while activists shouted “shame” in the background.
The NYPD did not address the question of why the protest was allowed so close to the synagogue entrance, saying only: “The demonstration was ended and no arrests were made.” There was a heavy police presence on site and officers kept the anti-Zionist demonstrators away from Jewish counter-demonstrators. The Jewish community generally praises the police for their handling of protests.
The entrance to the Park East Synagogue, with dueling protesters on either side, separated by police, in New York City, November 19, 2025. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
The demonstration was organized under the guise of a political protest because it was directed against an event, not the synagogue itself, but the activists repeatedly descended into outright anti-Semitism that had nothing to do with the event and was more extreme than the rhetoric at most protests.
One woman shouted at passers-by: “Damn Jewish idiots” while another shouted: “You are part of a death cult” while arguing with a man in a yarmulke. Another protester held a sign that read, “Pedophiles and rapists run our government to serve ‘Israel,'” the text superimposed over a photo of U.S. President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein.
“You fucking rapist cunts. You fucking pedophiles. You fucking Epstein shits,” one woman screamed.
The presence of the fringe anti-Zionist Jewish Naturei Karta sect also helps activists fend off accusations of anti-Semitism. Members of the small, extremist group are at the forefront of almost all anti-Israel protests in the city. On Wednesday night, members of the group, which has been condemned by other non-Zionist Hasidic movements, repeatedly stepped on an Israeli flag.
The hostility was not one-sided – right-wing Jewish activists had circulated calls to show up to the counter-demonstration, saying: “Silence is not an option.” The two sides insulted each other, made obscene gestures at police lines, shone bright flashlights in each other’s faces and threw a plastic coffee cup back and forth.
The protest followed other recent incidents of anti-Semitism in New York City despite last month’s Gaza ceasefire and suggested a new normal for the city’s Jews, who are victims of hate crimes at a much higher rate than any other group.
In some of the most recent incidents since the ceasefire, a Jewish educator was attacked in the street; Vandals scrawled swastikas on a yeshiva in Brooklyn; “Fuck Jews” was spray-painted on a sidewalk; and a Muslim religious leader led a strike at an interfaith college event, denouncing the Jewish community representative as a “Zionist.”
Jewish counter-demonstrators at a protest in front of a New York synagogue, November 19, 2025. (Luke Tress/Times of Israel)
The incidents come amid concern in the majority Jewish community after far-left Zohran Mamdani, a harsh critic of Israel, won election as the city’s next mayor. Jewish New Yorkers have repeatedly expressed concern about how Mamdani will respond to protests at synagogues and Jewish neighborhoods he has pledged to protect and laid out a plan to combat anti-Semitism. Mamdani earlier this year defended the protest slogan “Globalization of the Intifada” used in Wednesday’s protests, later saying he would “discourage” it after coming under intense pressure.
A Mamdani spokeswoman, Dora Pekec, told the Times of Israel on Thursday: “The mayor-elect has discouraged and will continue to discourage the language used at last night’s protest.”
“He believes that every New Yorker should have the freedom to enter a place of worship without intimidation and that these sacred spaces should not be used to promote activities that violate international law,” Pekec said. The group that hosted the event, Nefesh B’nefesh, does not direct immigrants to settlements, something much of the international community considers a violation of international law. Anti-Zionist activists often brand all Jewish Israelis as “settlers” in order to delegitimize Jewish existence in Israel.
Other New York leaders expressed strong condemnation, including the mayor, governor and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, who will serve as the city’s comptroller in the Mamdani administration.
Mamdani confirmed Wednesday that he will keep respected NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch in office, fulfilling a campaign promise that had reassured centrists, including Jews, who feared for their safety because of Mamdani’s past criticism of the police and issues such as attributing NYPD violence to Israel.
However, his keeping Tisch in place sparked a backlash from leading anti-Zionist activists in the city. The activists come from the same camp that organized the synagogue protest, underscoring Mamdani’s balancing act between his far-left base and the city’s moderates.
The synagogue hosted the Nefesh B’nefesh event on Wednesday evening, with staff greeting participants at a table in the synagogue door, within sight of the protesters. A Nefesh B’nefesh official said around 150 participants attended the open day event to discuss options for immigration to Israel.
“There was a more serious discussion about aliyah as an option than at previous, similar events,” the staffer said.
