Roughly 200 anti-Zionist protesters gathered outside Park East Synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side on Wednesday night, chanting slogans including “Death to the IDF” and “From New York to Gaza, globalize the intifada” as they targeted an event promoting Jewish immigration to Israel. The synagogue is led by Rabbi Arthur Schneier, 95, a Holocaust survivor.
Anti-Israel demonstrators assembled outside Park East Synagogue on November 19, 2025, during a Nefesh B’Nefesh program that assists Jews who wish to immigrate to Israel. Protesters chanted “Death to the IDF,” “From New York to Gaza, globalize the intifada,” and “Resistance you make us proud, take another settler out,” among other slogans, according to on‑scene reporting by The Times of Israel. Police used metal barricades to separate the crowd from a smaller group of Jewish counter‑protesters across the street, with the synagogue entrance between them. The event proceeded inside, staff greeting attendees at the door. (timesofisrael.com)
At points, the exchange turned profane. One woman shouted, “F—ing Jewish pricks,” while others yelled “rapists,” “racists,” and “pedophiles” at pro‑Israel demonstrators, The Times of Israel reported. A protest leader told the crowd, “It is our duty to make them think twice before holding these events. We need to make them scared. We need to make them scared. We need to make them scared.” (timesofisrael.com)
Nefesh B’Nefesh, the host of the program, is a nonprofit that helps facilitate aliyah, or Jewish immigration to Israel—a description consistent with how the organization was characterized by outlets covering the protest. (timesofisrael.com)
Park East’s senior rabbi, Arthur Schneier, is a 95‑year‑old Holocaust survivor born in Vienna who has long led the congregation. Schneier has publicly recounted witnessing his Vienna synagogue burning during Kristallnacht in 1938 before fleeing to Budapest, where he credits Swiss diplomat Carl Lutz’s protective papers and safe houses with enabling his survival. He has also spoken of relatives murdered in the Holocaust, including close family members deported to Auschwitz. (parkeastsynagogue.org)
Wednesday’s demonstration echoed earlier New York City rallies after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack. On October 8, 2023, pro‑Palestinian activists in Manhattan chanted “Resistance is justified,” “Globalize the intifada,” “Smash the settler Zionist state,” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The Times of Israel reported that some demonstrators mocked Israeli counter‑protesters, chanted “700” in apparent reference to the early death toll, made throat‑slitting gestures, displayed an image of a swastika, and tore an Israeli flag. (timesofisrael.com)
