Bronx, New YorkMarchers deliver protest letter to Rep. Ritchie Torres

May 3. Activists from the Bronx Anti-War Coalition, Healthcare Workers for Palestine and their allies held a demonstration in three parts in New York City in solidarity with the people of Palestine and to stop the U.S.-armed Israeli genocide against Gaza.

Health care workers take lead to bring anti-genocide message to the people. Bronx, New York, May 3, 2024. WW Photo: Brenda Ryan

The first part was an action at U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres’s office, where health care workers read a public statement: “We are here as students, teachers, health care workers and, notably, your constituents. As Bronxites … we are here to protest his active participation in the U.S./Israeli genocide in Gaza.

“Not only does Ritchie vote for every new massive weapons package to Israel, so they can continue their genocidal, colonial ambitions for Gaza, but in April, he also took a trip to Israel, paid for by the Israeli lobby, to meet with Israel’s Minister of ‘Defense’ Yoav Gallant. We have not forgotten how Gallant dehumanized Palestinians on Oct. 9 when he said, ‘We are fighting human animals, and we act accordingly. … We are imposing a complete siege on Gaza. There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel’”

The letter continues: “Not only is the Bronx strongly opposed to the US-funded Israeli genocide in Gaza, but also, a large majority of people living in the U.S. do not support genocide or ethnic cleansing. Ritchie, we Bronxites do not consider the bombing of schools, day care centers, maternity wards and hospitals to be defensive in nature. We do not believe executing newborn babies is self-defense. We do not think the targeted assassination of doctors, nurses, paramedics, aid workers, teachers and professors is defensive.”

The letter also took Torres to task for co-sponsoring the “COLUMBIA Act,” which makes federal funding for universities conditional on their elimination of protests against Israel’s genocidal campaign.

The second part took place when the activists and health care workers marched to Fordham Plaza for a rally, where they were joined by Neturei Karta, an anti-Zionist Jewish organization, which has been a regular presence at Palestine solidarity protests in this city. A Fordham University student who was arrested at a student encampment also spoke.

The protesters then took the streets on Fordham Road and marched to the Grand Concourse, where they took public transportation to New York University in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village to show solidarity to the encampment there in the third part of their day’s actions.

New York Police Department cops followed the protesters onto the train and instructed the train conductor to not move until the protesters got off the train. After shutting the entire D-line down for about 15 minutes, the demonstrators changed cars and kept moving forward. When they reached NYU, the organizers there opened the front of the march to their banners.