The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) closed its main entrance on Dec 2, as approximately 700 pro-Palestine protesters staged an action outside the New York City institution. The protesting group then marched to Times Square chanting “Israel bombs, USA pays, how many kids did you kill today?”.
The event was co-organized by the Palestinian-led community organization Within Our Lifetime (WOL) and the New York-based activist movement Decolonize This Place (DTP).
The protests has intended as a two-pronged action: a pro-Palestine rally outside the museum and also “anti-colonial tour” of its collections. In social media posts about the event, the groups also cited the AMNH’s sources of funding, including the Bank of New York Mellon, which houses the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces Donor Advised Fund, as well as its large collection of human remains.
Ahead of the protesters’ arrival, police had shut down all traffic on Central Park West and barricaded the institution’s front steps, preventing the activists from entering the museum to host the planned tour. Additional police officers joined the dozens already on the scene, including members of the Technical Assistance Response Unit, which specialize in electronic surveillance equipment. Protest monitors from the American Civil Liberties Union stood along the edges of the crowd answering questions and surveying the scene.
The activists unfurled their banners, long colorful sheets of fabric bearing phrases like “resistance until return” and “from Gaza to Jenin, revolution until victory.” One black banner with the words “the Nakba started here” depicted a painting of the Queens Museum building, where in 1947 the United Nations voted to separate Mandate-era Palestine into two states, resulting in the violent displacement of 430,000 Palestinians.
Protesters held hand-painted signs and placards, and a man with a cart walked through the early hours of the protest hawking small Palestinian flags for $5. One woman, who asked not to be identified, held swaddling cloths in her arms in a reference to the more than 6,000 Palestinian children killed in Gaza since October 7.
“There is only one solution, Intifada revolution,” chanted the activists. “From the river to the sea; Palestine will be free.”
