Protesters waving Palestinian flags defaced New York City’s iconic “Charging Bull” statue in Lower Manhattan with the hateful message “Death to Israel” on Thursday evening. The graffiti was written using a black marker and was located behind the ear of the bull. Protesters scrawled the chant “Free Palestine” across its face, as per photos shared on social media.
According to the New York Post the vandalism was committed by a crowd of anti-Israel protesters as they passed by the tourist hot spot. Their report said a man dressed in traditional Orthodox Jewish garb was also seen climbing atop the bronze statue and waving Palestinian flags.
The Charging Bull is a famous bronze sculpture located in New York City’s Financial District, specifically in the vicinity of Wall Street. Created by artist Arturo Di Modica, it depicts a bull in a dynamic and aggressive stance, with its head lowered and ready to charge forward. The sculpture is often associated with the concept of bullishness in the stock market, symbolising optimism.
He crafted the sculpture as a symbol of resilience and strength in the aftermath of the 1987 stock market crash, also known as “Black Monday”.
Several of these protesters were arrested later in front of New York City’s City Hall. The New York Police Department in a statement later said that eight people were issued summonses for disorderly conduct and another was charged with resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration.
The protesters who took to the streets of Lower Manhattan were mostly members of the “Emergency Action For Gaza” rally. They were protesting the deaths of over 100 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip early Thursday.
Gazans said Israeli troops opened fire on a crowd of hungry Palestinians who were attempting to take boxes of flour and canned food from aid trucks. Israel maintained innocence and said it was a stampede that led to the deaths and claimed that its troops only fired “a few warning shots” to control the “unruly” crowd.
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