Demonstrators clash at pro-Palestinian rallies across the US in wake of Hamas attack on Israel

Violent clashes have erupted at pro-Palestinian rallies across the globe in the wake of Saturday’s sneak attack on Israel by radical Islamic terrorists.

Authorities in Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles and other major US cities were called in to quell skirmishes at massive demonstrations over the weekend, as pro-Israeli counter-protestors confronted backers of the surprise attack on the Jewish State which has left more than 800 dead.

Similar rallies have sprouted up in London and Sydney.

“We’re here because we think everyone in the United States is funding Israeli apartheid,” Natalie Villasana, of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, told PBS during a demonstration outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta Sunday.

Counter-protestor Talai Segal, a student at Georgia Tech University, fired back in support of Israel.

“Terrorism is never justified,” Segal told reporters. “Their target was Israeli civilians.”

The attcks saw Hamas terrorists indiscriminately kill families, women, children, take hostages back into Gaza and slaughter 260 innocent people at a music festival near the Gaza strip on Saturday. They also fired over 3,000 rockets at Israel.

In Chicago, hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators rallied outside an Israeli consulate in the city on Sunday, taking aim at the country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Netanyahu you will see, Palestine will be free,” the crowd chanted.

Another rally was being planned for Monday, the Toronto Sun reported, drawing sharp criticism from city Mayor Olivia Chow. She claimed “the rally to support Hamas” planned for outside City Hall is “unsanctioned, without a permit and I unequivocally denounce it,” according to the newspaper. 

“We need [Toronto officials] to prevent this hate rally and condemn the war crimes and mass murder of Israelis that we have seen over the past few days,” Toronto Councillor James Pasternak posted on X.

“@cityoftoronto must take a firm stand against terrorism.”

Violence broke out at another rally in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as a group of counter-protestors confronted pro-Palestinian demonstrators on Sunday, CBS-TV News reported.

“A group of four of us were attacked by maybe 30,” Palestine supporter Aldair Labarda told the outlet. “I was pepper sprayed three times in the face. I was punched in the face repeatedly, I was punched in the head, I was punched in the chest, my shirt was ripped.”

That encounter came on the same day that hundreds of demonstrators on both sides clashed in New York City, where one pro-Palestinian supporter was pictured holding up a swastika on his mobile phone.

Video footage captured another group stomping on an Israeli flag, ripping it and lighting it on fire — prompting a skirmish between the two sides near Times Square. Police said there were three arrests.

“The people of Israel are facing violent terrorist attacks and civilian kidnappings,” an incensed Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement prior to the rally by the city chapter of Democratic Socialists of America.

“I condemn plans to rally in Times Square tomorrow in support of the perpetrators of these horrific actions,” Hochul said. “The planned rally is abhorrent and morally repugnant.”

Meanwhile, French police have arrested 10 people in connection with antisemitic acts that were reported since the Hamas attack on Israel, including threats to synagogues or people frequenting Jewish stores.

Prosecutors have also opened 44 investigations into antisemitic hate speech online or posts glorifying terrorism in connection with the violence, according to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin’s office.

With Post wires