Israeli Real-Estate Event in Boro-Park "Chickens Out" and Relocates Event After Being Threatened by Pro-Hamas Agitators

 

An Israeli real estate expo has been moved to a new location amid concerns about a pro-Palestinian demonstration being planned in the heart of Boro Park.

Word broke on February 16th about the protest, which was to be held on 13th Avenue and 50th Street. Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein shared news of the protest on social media platform X in an uncharacteristically strong-worded post that called on elected officials and law enforcement to ensure public safety.

“The Hamas sympathizers have decided to ‘flood’ our peaceful neighborhood of Boro Park,” wrote Eichenstein. “I demand that @NYPDnews and @NYCMayorsOffice take immediate action to prevent this hateful, targeted protest against our local Jewish community. It is YOUR responsibility to protect our neighbors and keep our streets safe! Hate has NO PLACE IN our community!”

The expo was set to take place at 6 PM at the Lumiere Hall, located on the premises of Yeshiva Yesodei Hatoran Vien, and next door to the Kesser Rizel High School Bnos Zion of Bobov.

Eichenstein also shared PAL-AWDA NY/NJ’s flyer, which described the demonstration as a “protest to stop the sale of stolen Palestinian land.” The words “Palestine is not for sale” and “Free Palestine” are printed on the flyer over images of black fists raised in protest, one of which holds a Palestinian flag. A social media post by the group derided the “Zionists in Brooklyn” for attempting “ to sell land in occupied Palestine, as part of their ongoing effort to ethnically cleanse the land of its indigenous inhabitants” and lambasted President Donald Trump for his “outrageous plans to force Palestinians out of the Gaza strip and in the wake of the displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank in the past month.”

As unease spread about the upcoming protest, officials at the NYPD’s 66th Precinct made plans to create a frozen zone around the event, and shared details about other safety restrictions with schools in the affected are. Despite those measures, a decision was made to cancel the event, followed by another to relocate the event. The expo will be taking place instead at Brooklyn Square, located in a more industrial section of Boro Park at 36th Street and 14th Avenue, according to former Assemblyman Dov Hikind.

Hikind, founder of the group Americans Against Antisemitism, was emphatic in his insistence that Jews cannot allow themselves to be intimidated by Hamas supporters and expressed his disappointment that the expo had been relocated.

“We’re afraid of them?” said Hikind incredulously. “Give me a break. We can’t be afraid. For G-d’s sake. We have to be smart. We have to be careful. But to cancel? What a horror.”

X user #AmIsraelChai shared those sentiments with a post that read, “Be not afraid. Please go out, if you live in the Boro Park area of NY and support this event. If we keep backing down, they will win.”