protests

Protesters Fly Giant Palestinian Flag Off Manhattan Bridge

Demonstrators hang a protest flag from the south side of the Manhattan Bridge as a pro-Palestinian rally (not pictured) makes its way across the nearby Brooklyn Bridge, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014, in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
Photo: Jason DeCrow

On Wednesday evening another massive, illegal flag was flown from a New York bridge, but this time there isn’t much mystery surrounding the incident (unless that stoner dude is going to try to convince us he’s passionate about the Gaza conflict, too). While about 500 people marched across the Brooklyn Bridge as part of a planned march to “show NYC’s support for Palestine and resistance to Israeli’s campaign of aggression, occupation, and ethnic cleansing,” someone unfurled a giant Palestinian flag that read “boycott, divest, sanction,” on the Manhattan Bridge.

Police took the flag down within 30 minutes, and no arrests were made on Wednesday night. The incident will not be treated as a security breach like the white flags German artists put on the Brooklyn Bridge last month, but some think it should be. Councilman David Greenfield called the flag “anti-Israel & anti-Semitic,” on Twitter and said, “The dropping of another illegal flag on a major NYC bridge leads to the question of whether @NYPDnews is still capable of protecting NYC.”

Palestinian Flag Flown From Manhattan Bridge