Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters converged on Midtown Monday, lugging a blood-red mock Nativity scene and chanting, “Christmas is canceled here.” “Long live the intifada,” the crowd of about 500 demonstrators yelled, using the Arabic word for “rebellion” or “uprising,” as they mobbed the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, where revelers were enjoying the holiday. “No Joy In Genocide,” said another, written atop the faux Nativity scene, which was splattered in what appeared to be fake blood and which several of the demonstrators carried on their shoulders. A few scuffles broke out in the crowd after nightfall, including outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which sent cops running through the mob. At least six arrests — four for disorderly conduct, one for menacing and one for graffiti — were later reported near Grand Central Station and Union Square, as protesters and cops clashed.
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters converged on Midtown Monday, lugging a blood-red mock Nativity scene and chanting, “Christmas is canceled here.” “Long live the intifada,” the crowd of about 500 demonstrators yelled, using the Arabic word for “rebellion” or “uprising,” as they mobbed the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, where revelers were enjoying the holiday. “No Joy In Genocide,” said another, written atop the faux Nativity scene, which was splattered in what appeared to be fake blood and which several of the demonstrators carried on their shoulders. A few scuffles broke out in the crowd after nightfall, including outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which sent cops running through the mob. At least six arrests — four for disorderly conduct, one for menacing and one for graffiti — were later reported near Grand Central Station and Union Square, as protesters and cops clashed