Nov. 6, 2023: Statue of Liberty Sit-in Demanding Gaza Ceasefire

On Monday, November 6, 2023, nearly 400 protesters occupied the base of the Statue of Liberty as part of an hour-long sit-in demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. The sit-in was one of several around the country that day coordinated by Jewish Voice for Peace.

Participants in the sit-in staggered their arrival to the statue to avoid surveillance, though many revealed matching black t-shirts as the sit-in began. The t-shirts read “Not in Our Name” on the front and “Jews Say Cease Fire Now” on the back.

Source: Jewish Voice for Peace

Interviewing some of the protesters for The Nation, Sophie Hurwitz wrote,

Seventy-seven-year-old Jane Hirschmann was one of the oldest protesters. She brought her two adult daughters to hang banners off of Lady Liberty alongside her. Civil disobedience has become something of a new family tradition, she said.

“We’ve been arrested in the [congressional building] rotunda in Washington, and in Grand Central,” she said, referring to two mass civil disobedience actions of Jewish people calling for Palestinian liberation in the past two weeks. “In Grand Central, I had all my children there, and all my grandchildren. We were 13 strong. The grandchildren left, they didn’t get arrested.” Her grandchildren, some as young as 1 year old, were a bit too young.

“We came to the Statue of Liberty today because we are inspired by the words of our Jewish ancestor, Emma Lazarus, that are etched into the monument,” said Jay Saper, an JVP organizer. “Those words compel us to take action to support the Palestinians of Gaza yearning to be free. And we will continue to take action until we bring about a ceasefire and until Palestinians are free.”

Hurwitz described the conclusion of the occupation,

Souce: Jewish Voice for Peace

The group slowly made its way out of the Statue of Liberty complex by 2:30 pm, a great cloud of black-shirted people chanting, “End the siege on Gaza now!” on their way back down onto a ferry. Once on the boat, they rehung their banners, waving down at people watching from the shore. They yelled and stomped so hard that the boat shook the whole way back to Manhattan.