The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) has condemned an anti-Israel protest in Queens Thursday night, where demonstrators openly chanted “We support Hamas," alongside calls for “intifada" and “people’s war," outside a Jewish religious institution in a residential neighborhood.
The protest targeted an Israeli real estate event hosted at a yeshiva in Kew Gardens Hills and was led by the Palestinian Assembly for Liberation (PAL-Awda) NY/NJ. According to videos shared by organizers, keffiyeh-clad activists waving Palestinian flags gathered to oppose the real estate event.
CAM warned that the chants heard at the protest constituted explicit endorsement of terrorist violence and were intended to intimidate the local Jewish community.
Sacha Roytman Dratwa, CEO of the Combat Antisemitism Movement, said: “It is clear that anti-Semites, masquerading as pro-Palestinian demonstrators, feel increasingly emboldened now that Mayor Mamdani is in office. The mass chanting of ‘We support Hamas’ means that they support the mass murder, rape and kidnapping of Jews, and to chant this in a residential area populated by many Jewish families is meant to be violent and threatening."
“We saw in Australia how ‘Where are the Jews?’ turned into mass murder, and the chants heard in Queens last night have the same meaning and intention. Mayor Mamdani has to act before words turn into bullets, because blood will be on the hands of all those who ignored the signs before it is too late."
CAM emphasized that Hamas is a designated terrorist organization responsible for mass atrocities, including the October 7 massacre in Israel, and that public expressions of support for Hamas go far beyond political speech.
The organization called on New York City leadership and law enforcement to respond decisively before extremist rhetoric escalates into physical violence.