Freedom of Assembly?

At the pro-Palestinian rally in Times square today, I had an altercation with a NYC cop who worked with the ‘community affairs’ division. He refused to give me his name, so I’ll just call him the “Lieutenant”

I was just minding my own business, taking pictures of the pro-Palestinian group. When the pro-Israel group started to set up shop across the street, the police announced that they were to move their group down about 3 blocks, to an assigned pen on 39th street. I was walking back and forth between the two groups when a friend with an anti-Hamas sign told me that a policeman had threatened to arrest him because he walking in an area that was not assigned to his group. I asked who it was and he pointed to the Lieutenant. When I asked the Lieutenant if that was true, he told me to move along.

He wasn’t very interested in talking. I thought that if I took out my camera, a person who was apparently trained in community relations would want to politely explain himself to the community.

That’s not what he did:

The sound is not very good, so here’s a transcript:

Lieutenant: 39, 39 [directing us to 39th street, where the pro-Israel protest was supposed to go]

Mary: Did you threaten to arrest him [my friend]?

Lieutenant: Yes, yes..

Mary: Why did you threaten to arrest him?

Lieutenant: If he doesn’t go to his designated location, where he’s supposed to protest, he cannot protest there, ..let’s go, let’s go

Mary: But isn’t there freedom of assembly..?

Lieutenant: No, yeah, there is, where you’re going..

Mary: But freedom of assembly can be anywhere..

Lieutenant: Aww.., can you stop, can you stop (hits camera & my hand) …

Mary: ..umm…ok…

He also took my camera away at one point while we were discussing his name or identification (which he never gave me) and the fact that he didn’t want me to record him. Eventually, he gave it back.

I can understand that the police are trying to avoid possibly violent confrontations between two conflicting groups, but according to a ‘Gathering of Eagles’ organizer in New York City, pro-Palestinian groups and anti-war protesters are allowed to set up shop wherever they please because they are able to threaten the cops with lawsuits if the cops pressure them to move them to an assigned location.

Today, the police allowed a pro-Palestinian group to virtually take over Times Square, using a deafening loudspeaker that bullied tourists, police and passersby for hours. As the pro-Palestinian shouts and bellows echoed down throughout Times Square, the cops spent their time harassing and literally pushing the Israel supporters around.

And, of course, the question about freedom of assembly was never answered.

The situation with the cops in NYC is similar to the situation with Israel and the UN. The authorities are trying to avoid a conflict, they know that the Palestinians do not respect them and they also know that the Palestinians are the group that is likely to respond with violence. So they push the Israelis around because they’re the only group the authorities can have an effect on, and they know they won’t respond to the authorities with violence. Israelis will listen.