Three dozen people arrested at July 4 anti-Israel protest in New York

More than three dozen anti-Israel protesters were arrested in Manhattan on Thursday night at a rally where a hate group burned an American flag and a man stole someone’s Israeli flag, police said.

Police said they handcuffed 37 people at the “Flood July 4th for Gaza” demonstration, organized by the radical anti-Israel group Within Our Lifetime. The demonstration began in Washington Square Park and gradually moved to Hudson Yards, just in time for the legendary fireworks display at Macy’s.

Othman Belhamdounia, 36, was arrested shortly after 7 p.m. for allegedly stealing an Israeli flag from someone at the corner of Washington Square East and Washington Place, police said.

The circumstances leading to the theft were still unclear on Friday afternoon.

He was charged with petty and aggravated theft, police said.

At around 8:30 p.m., Nicholas Cross, 33, was arrested at the corner of Eighth Avenue and West 19th Street for allegedly attempting to snatch a flag a 17-year-old boy was holding, authorities said.

The teenager held onto the flag and Cross was unable to snatch it from him, police said.

He was charged with attempted grand theft, authorities said.

Seven other people were arrested. They were accused of obstructing government work, resisting state authority, disturbing the peace and illegal possession of narcotics, police said.

According to police, 28 people were issued with summonses.

At the same rally, footage shows a group burning an American flag in Washington Square Park while keffiyeh-clad photographers reach out to capture the desecration.

The flag smoked next to a poster showing Trump and Biden wearing crowns and the words “DEATH TO ALL KINGS” written in large block letters.

The poster was apparently a reference to a Supreme Court ruling earlier this week that grants U.S. presidents “absolute immunity” from prosecution for “official acts” while in office.

The NYPD has no record of any arrests related to the flag burning.

Also in Greenwich Village Park, the crowd chanted “Over 40,000 dead, Democrats, your hands are red” and “Israel, we know you, you lock up children too,” according to videos posted on the Within Our Lifetime X account.

The protesters made their last stop at West 28th Street and 11th Avenue.

“We raise the flag of revolution as we rise up and flood New York for Gaza,” organizers posted on X, alongside a video of a horde of assembled protesters — with a Palestinian flag and a sign reading “Stop Cop City Free Palestine” prominently displayed, while fireworks lit up the sky in the background.

“Today we stand up against the NYPD’s ongoing repression to disrupt the Fourth of July and make it clear that these are our streets,” the caption continued.

“While you watch, bombs are falling!” the demonstrators shouted, and also “Israel bombs, the USA pays! How many children have you killed today?”