On Monday, six organizations blocked three bridges and the Holland Tunnel into Manhattan. Three days later, the New York Post published an investigation on the participants in the demonstrations and those who were arrested, who numbered more than 300.
According to the Post, many of those arrested were graduates of Ivy League universities and other elite colleges and universities. Among these is Ilana Cruger-Zaken, a 36-year-old Jewish resident of South Salem and a graduate student at NYU’s Center for Experimental Humanities & Social Engagement. After her arrest, Cruger-Zaken boasted on her Instagram account: "And we’ll do it again."
NYU law graduate Daniel Kim, 28, was also arrested at Monday's protests, as was University of Pennsylvania Wharton School graduate Trava Tam, 29.
The most notable arrestee was Sunita Viswanath, a former adviser to New York City Mayor Eric Adams and White House official under the Obama Administration. Viswanath posted photographs of herself at the protests on X and wrote: “This was my small group, blocking traffic to Brooklyn Bridge yesterday morning!”
“For my husband and so, so many like him, the best way to be Jewish is to stand up for justice and peace and an end to the bombing right now,” she claimed.
Another Jewish man who was arrested on Monday was Eli Coplan, 31, whose parents own $5 million in property in California and Colorado. Coplan signed a letter criticizing those who call out the antisemitism inherent in the anti-Zionist movement and claiming that they attempt to falsely paint all criticism of Israel as antisemitic.
The protestors were largely made up of the upper crust of American society, such as millionaire heirs, Ivy League graduates, and filmmakers.
These wealthy and privileged individuals deliberately blocked traffic for working-class New Yorkers, preventing many from getting to work or getting home to see their children while the protests lasted.
Most of the arrestees were charged with disorderly conduct and released without bail.