“Flood Long Island For Palestine” Protest Marches Against Northrop Grumman.
HICKSVILLE, NEW YORK – Hundreds of protesters and some counter-protesters lined South Broadway on Sunday afternoon during a “Flood Long Island For Palestine” protest in opposition of the defense contractor Northrop Grumman.
Pro-Palestinian protesters rallied at the Broadway Plaza shopping center near the corner of South Broadway and Lewis Street in Hicksville just before 2:00 PM on Sunday. Demonstrators waved Palestinian flags, held signs to express their solidarity with Palestine, and chanted before setting out and marching down Broadway toward the Northrop Grumman property on South Oyster Bay Road.
Counter-protesters in support of Israel waved American and Israeli flags from across the street and chanted back intensely at the Pro-Palestinians. The group recited the pledge of allegiance and expressed their disapproval for the initial protest.
The large march made its way through the main streets in the area with a police escort before coming to a stop at the Northrop Grumman sign on South Oyster Bay Road, where the group placed items resembling bloody body bags on and in front of the sign to protest the defense contractor. Organizers of the demonstration, in a social media post, asserted that Northrop Grumman bears responsibility for what they referred to as Israel’s war crimes.
Along the way, some protesters tagged Grumman signs with stickers displaying the phrases “Every Time Media Lies A Neighborhood In Gaza Dies” and “Israel Is Committing Genocide In Gaza”.
Amid the tensions escalating, at least one Pro-Palestinian protester was arrested by Nassau County Police and placed in the back of an unmarked police car. It was not made clear what the man was arrested for at the time of the arrest.
According to Pro-Israel counter-protesters on Sunday evening, an American and Israeli flag were ripped down from a vehicle displaying them at the “Flood Long Island For Palestine” protest. The vehicle was parked across the street from where the Pro-Palestine protesters congregated. The SUV’s mounted flag holder was damaged as a result. The vehicle’s owner gave an interview outlining the circumstances around the damage done.
