October 7 Anniversary Marked By Mourning, Protest, Politics

The second anniversary of the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attack on Israel came to Manhattan with all the solemnity and rancor one would expect from the ever contentious and often irreconcilable conflict. All flags at city and state buildings were flown at half staff y on Oct. 7 this year. Whether one considers the current cease fire in the war by and against Israel two years old, as part of much a longer historical arc going back to the ancient Aramean, Chaldean or Roman Levant is a matter of perspective.

That a Trump Administration-negotiated peace deal was looming didn’t seem to affect the day itself, with both the focused pro-Israel parties and the more broadly “revolutionary” pro-Palestine groups.

It’s been nearly ten months since Bronx-born lawyer and real estate developer Steve Witkoff became the U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East. Despite President Trump’s early optimism and exhortations, there hasn’t been much evidence when the anniversary dawned that Witkoff was making substantial progress with either Israeli Prime Minister Benjamim Netanyahu or the negotiators representing Hamas.

And so this October 7 rather resembled that of 2024, with pro-Israel partisans showing sorrow and concern for the hostages on one side, and pro-Palestine groups shouting about “intifada” and “genocide” on the other.

Up in Central Park, Jews and others gathered, many holding Israeli flags of various designs including rainbow, gay-pride themed banners. One dog present wore a Bring Them Home bandana around its neck. In midtown, the highlight was raucous march to 1211 6th Avenue, between West 47th and West 48th streets, home to News Corp., the NY Post and Fox cable network.

Among the professionally printed signs credited to the radical group Within Our Lifetime, were those reading: “There is Only One Solution, Intifada Revolution”; “Palestinian Liberation & Return By Any Means Necessary”; “Resisting The Nakba Since 1948”; and “End the Blockade Break The Siege Gaza Will Be Free,” and “Over 600,000 Dead, U.S. & Israel Your Hands Are Red.”

Where that 600,000 number comes from is unclear. According to the Associated Press , using disputed Gaza Health Ministry figures, has around 67,000 dead, with another 167,000 casualties. While the devestation of Gaza is undeniably substantial, how accurate these numbers are will likely never be known.

Per a recent Reuters report, “The Palestinian Health Ministry figures do not differentiate between civilians and Hamas combatants, who do not wear formal uniforms or carry separate identification...The Israeli military said in January 2025 it had killed nearly 20,000 Hamas fighters. It has not provided an update since.”

Zionism versus “Free Palestine”

One substantial difference between the October 7 anniversaries, is just how popular the “Free Palestine” cause has become. While one might aver this rise has been in proportion to the suffering of Gaza, the real explanation is probably an oversimplification.

Conversely, given the popularity of simplistic social media “news” sources and an increasingly social-media addicted population, that might be enough, even with the occasional armchair scholar sharing videos from the Imperial War Museum about the British mandate.

One Protest After Another

Straus News has covered the local manifestations of the current Israel - Hamas war extensively. Though we missed the Times Square rally of October 8, 2023, where signs reading “Globalize the Intifada,” “Free All Palestinian Prisoners” and “Resistance is justified” were joined by chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” we’ve rarely missed a major protest since.

Indeed, five days later, our reporters were in Times Square. Though the story ran in the opinion-oriented Voices section, it remains a valuable survey of sentiments before Hamas-built tunnels under Gazan hospitals were found; before it was clear that some Hamas hostages weren’t coming home for a long time, if ever; and before the word “genocide” was so commonly thrown around.

On the rainy night of October 20, 2023, Straus News was again on the protest beat, with photographer Honda Wang capturing a trio of minor city politicians marching together: State Assembly Member from Queens Zohran Mandami is holding a bullhorn; State Senator Jabari Brisport, of Brooklyn is shouting while pumping his fist in the air; and Council Member Alexa Aviles, also from Brooklyn, is holding the edge of banner that reads “End U.S. $$$ For War Crimes.”

All three solons were and are members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), whose anti-Zionist ardor has sometimes appeared to take precedence over affairs in their own districts. Other DSA Council Members receiving such criticism included Tiffany Cabán of Queens, whose district overlaps with Mandami, and Shahana Hanif, of Brooklyn. “Does she represent Gaza, or Gowanus?” quipped one frustrated local.

A brief selection of this newspaper’s many Palestine versus Israel-related protest stories include the 2023 Thanksgiving Day Parade; a rally that December decrying anti-semitism in the public school system; the 2024 and 2025 Israel Day Parades, both featuring Mayor Adams, Governor Hochul, and Attorney General Letitia James, the latter two of whom have since endorsed anti-Zionist Mandami; and the June 10, 2024 protest from Union Square to Wall Street that so blatantly crossed the line to threateneing anti-Semitism that even pro-Palestine politicians condemned it.

On and on it went, claims, denials, counter-claims, college campus takeovers and evictions; all with mishegas in abudance.

This past August 7, pro-Palestinian marchers took to Manhattan’s Open Streets with the intent of shutting down Grand Central Terminal. When that failed, some black masked protesters assailed the largely Black and Hispanic police officers there with taunting and epithets—much of it captured on video and evidence, again, that many “peaceful” protests aren’t entirely pacifistic.

A Long Awaited Peace

The initial swap of Israeli hostages for Palestinians prisoners was underway early on October 13. “The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has started a multi-phase operation to facilitate and transfer of hostages and detainees as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas,” the ICRC stated.

By early Oct. 13, EDT, all 20 living hostages were reportedly returned to Israel