Anti-Israel protesters vandalized a World War I memorial in Central Park and placed a Palestinian flag on a statue of a Union Army general. The incidents have drawn strong reactions from city officials and veterans' groups.
On Tuesday, Mayor Eric Adams expressed outrage and disgust after anti-Israel protesters vandalized a World War I memorial in New York City on Monday. The 107th United States Infantry monument, located along Central Park on the Upper East Side, depicts seven US Army soldiers in the throes of battle in September 1918, as they burst through the Hindenburg Line, the last and strongest of the German army's defense.
During anti-Israel protests near Hunter College and the Met Gala, demonstrators placed pro-Palestinian stickers on the memorial, spray-painted "Free Gaza," and burned the American flag at the site. Adams, whose uncle died serving in Vietnam at age 19, offered $5,000 of his own money to catch the vandals. NYPD Crime Stoppers is offering another $10,000 as a reward.
"We're going to treat this crime with the seriousness that it deserves," Adams said Tuesday in front of the monument. "I will not stand by while people desecrate memorials for those who fought for democracy and human rights, the right rights that they (pro-Palestinian groups) are calling for."
Video footage posted online shows a group of anti-Israel supporters placing a flag on the statue and using spray paint to advocate for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The NYPD is looking for three suspects in connection with the vandalism.
In an online post, Senator Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who served in Iraq and Afghanistan as a US Army infantry officer, said the "terrorist sympathizers committed felony violations of the Veterans' Memorial Preservation and Recognition Act by defacing this memorial to the 107th Infantry."
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city on Monday night, protesters also placed a Palestinian flag on a statue of Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman near Central Park. NYPD officers arrived and blocked the crowd while an officer climbed on a ladder to remove it. The monument was also defaced with spray paint.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars, an advocacy group with chapters across the country, pointed out that the first amendment of the Constitution grants the rights of freedom of speech and of the people peacefully to assemble, rights that members of the VFW swore an oath to support and defend. However, they also support the rule of law and those working to uphold it.
The vandalism of these memorials has sparked outrage and condemnation from city officials, veterans' groups, and members of the public. The incidents highlight the ongoing tensions surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the importance of respecting and preserving memorials honoring those who have served their country.
