![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/protest4.png\")
<\/p>\nPro-Palestinian and pro-Israel activists faced off in Queens on Thursday night outside a synagogue that was hosting an event promoting real estate sales in a Jewish city in the West Bank.<\/p>\n
But efforts by the NYPD largely ensured that the two groups did not come close to each other, and that the pro-Palestinian protesters could not come to close to people attending the event, either.<\/p>\n
While the pro-Palestinian protesters were kept behind barriers down the street from the synagogue, Anita Dayan, a 48-year-old Orthodox Jewish Kew Gardens Hills resident, cried as she walked in front of them on her way to the event.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes me feel scared, and it makes me feel sad,\u201d said Dayan. \u201cI\u2019m raising my kids here still, and it just makes me wonder what our future is here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The dozens of police officers on the scene also quickly formed a barrier when a large group of young Jewish men arrived as the pro-Palestinian protesters were dispersing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Police form a barrier between pro-Palestinian protesters and a group of young men with Israeli flags in Kew Gardens Hills on Jan. 8, 2026. (Grace Gilson)<\/p>\n
The events outside Young Israel of Kew Garden Hills marked the first major pro-Palestinian protest in the city since Zohran Mamdani, who opposes Israel, was sworn in as mayor last week.<\/a><\/p>\n Jewish leaders in the city had expressed concern about Mamdani\u2019s response<\/a> to a December protest outside Park East Synagogue in which people seeking to attend an event about moving to Israel had to pass close to demonstrators who were shouting at them and yelling insults.<\/p>\n At the time, Mamdani reiterated his vow to keep all New Yorkers safe but added that \u201csacred spaces should not be used to promote activities in violation of international law.\u201d<\/p>\n His response fueled calls from lawmakers and elected officials to create \u201cbuffer zones\u201d limiting protests directly outside houses of worship. Gov. Kathy Hochul said this week that she plans to announce state legislation<\/a>, and newly elected City Council Speaker Julie Menin, who is Jewish, has said the council would move to enact similar legislation<\/a>.<\/p>\n But no new laws were in place on Thursday night when PAL-Awda, the group that staged the December protest, brought about 100 demonstrators to Queens. Some Jewish community groups had urged against a counter-protest, fearing violence, but around 100 pro-Israel demonstrators turned up as well. The NYPD blocked roads around Young Israel and kept both sets<\/p>\n Still, the incident proved disruptive. An elementary school and day care center at the site reportedly closed early in anticipation of potential turmoil, and both sets of demonstrators shouted inflammatory language.<\/p>\n I have just returned from a site visit of tonight\u2019s planned protest in Kew Gardens Hills and spoke with concerned principals, parents and the @NYPD107Pct<\/a>. A safety perimeter is in place, and I am confident in the NYPD\u2019s ability to keep the community safe.<\/p>\n That being said, I am\u2026<\/p>\n \u2014 Sam Berger (@SamBergerNY) January 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Shouts from the PAL-Awda side included \u201cDeath to the IDF\u201d and \u201cGlobalize the intifada,\u201d the slogan that Mamdani drew fire for declining to condemn<\/a> during the election season. He has said he would \u201cdiscourage\u201d the use of the phrase, which police in London and other cities<\/a> have recently said they would begin to treat as criminal because of its association with violence against Jews.<\/p>\n Some of the pro-Israel demonstrators shouted \u201cWe love ICE,\u201d a reference to the federal immigration enforcement agency that has been involved in the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to deport pro-Palestinian protesters. (On Wednesday, an ICE agent fatally shot a woman<\/a> in Minneapolis.)<\/p>\n At the end of the dueling protests, pro-Palestinian demonstrators called the pro-Israel crowd \u201cNazis\u201d and \u201cPedophiles\u201d while one demonstrator called them \u201cf\u2014ggots.\u201d<\/p>\n In a flyer for the protest against the event, which highlighted real estate for sale in the city of Maale Adumim, Pal-Awda called for demonstrators to \u201cstop the sale of stolen Palestinian land.\u201d<\/p>\n Maale Adumim is a major Jewish settlement in the West Bank with a population of about 40,000. Critics of Israel see the city as strategically significant because its location would interrupt contiguous land for a potential Palestinian state. Still, it is seen as likely to remain under Israeli control if a Palestinian state is created in the future.<\/p>\n\n