Pro-Palestinian supporters held a demonstration in front of the New York Stock Exchange on Oct. 14 by stationing themselves outside of the building wearing shirts saying, “Jews say stop arming Israel.”
Over 200 activists participated in a call-to-action for a ceasefire in Palestine, drawing in more than 500 protestors.
Members of “Jewish Voice for Peace” and Holocaust survivors were among those that were in attendance.
The protest started at 9:30 a.m. outside the NYSE building, with demonstrators carrying signs that read “Fund FEMA not genocide” and “Gaza bombed, Wall Street booms.”
Highlights of the protest included covering the famous Charging Bull and Fearless Girl statues with “Stop arming Israel” shirts.
Some supporters also chained themselves to the building’s main entrance gates.
The U.S. has partnered with companies such as Lockheed Martin, to help distribute weapons to Israel and has fallen into criticism with Palestinian activists for profiting off genocide.
Members of the “Jewish Voice for Peace” took to Instagram on Oct. 14 to spread their message, posting, “As Gaza is bombed, Wall Street booms. The stock prices of weapons manufacturers have skyrocketed this year. The 50+ members of Congress who invest in arms companies get richer every day.”
Banners at the protest in solidarity with their online message read “Arms Embargo Now.” In response, the NYSE fenced off a perimeter outside the building on Broad Street in lower Manhattan.
Although none of the protesters got inside of the Stock Exchange, many crossed a security fence set up by police in front of the main building.
The three-hour long protest ended as NYPD officers arrested several activists, including artist and contributing editor for VICE news, Molly Crabapple and filmmaker Laura Poitras.
A New York City Department of Correction bus was parked outside the NYSE as police detained and ziptied 206 Pro-Palestine supporters.
Activists are currently being charged with trespassing.
The Resistance Revival Chorus, a group of women and non-binary singers, performed a call-and-response song during the protest.
“Oh Palestine, you are not alone,” they sang. “We will be with you, until you’re safe at home.” Supporters continued to stand in solidarity with one another as some were forcibly removed and dragged away by law enforcement.
The “fight for peace demonstration” called for the U.S. government to stop sending bombs to Israel and to stop profiting off Palestinian deaths in Gaza.
The stock prices of weapons manufacturers have risen in 2024, and activists waved banners and chanted slogans like “Let Gaza Live” and “Up, up with liberation, down, down with occupation.”
More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the conflict began when at least 1,200 people were killed, and 250 people were taken hostage in Israel on Oct. 7.
The protest coincided with Indigenous Peoples’ Day and took place after the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur.
In a statement on Instagram, “Jewish Voice for Peace” wrote, “This Indigenous Peoples’ Day, we pay homage to the movements that have fought against the genocides Wall Street has always profited from.”
The ongoing bloodshed in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has caused intense reactions from both the Palestinian and Jewish communities.
Protestors and supoorters sought to challenge the U.S.’ financial interests in the conflict by demonstrating at the epicenter of global capital.