After former Hamas leader Khaled Mashal ordered a “global day of Jihad,” security precautions were being taken all around the United States. Some schools were closed and extra police officers – particularly in New York City – were stationed near synagogues and Jewish schools. People were told to be on the alert and ‘if you see something, say something.’ These all seemed like sensible and potentially vital precautions to me because the United States is sadly no stranger to radical Islamic terror attacks. But with the sun rising on a new day, it doesn’t really seem like very many people were in the mood to take orders from Khaled Mashal, or at least not in the United States. There were plenty of protests and demonstrations, of course, but there have been almost non-stop protests ever since Hamas invaded Israel last weekend. But we have fortunately yet to see reports of any bombings or armed attacks on civilian targets in our country. So did the Global Day of Jihad fizzle? Or is it yet to come? (NY Post)

Thousands of pro-Palestine demonstrators swarmed Manhattan streets Friday afternoon — as an Israeli contingent a fraction of its size pushed back — the same day an ex-Hamas leader issued a rallying cry for a global “day of Jihad.”

Helicopters whirled overhead as the protest began on CUNY’s Baruch College campus — starting with a group of about 100 — with the protesters taking part in the Friday afternoon call to prayer, observed by practicing Muslims.

Then cries of “Free, Free Palestine!” rang out in the crowd.

There were three arrests made during the main protests in New York City, at least one of which was filmed by members of the crowd and uploaded to social media.

A man approached the rally carrying printouts of people “kidnapped by Hamas” (flyers which have circulated among conservative, Zionist spaces). He began yelling “Shame on you” to the rally, confronted, and then later yelled that the crowd was “not human.”

He was detained. pic.twitter.com/CNhYJyNRll

— Talia Jane ❤️‍🔥 (@taliaotg) October 13, 2023

When the Associated Press described all of the precautions being taken, they did so using the phrase, “despite a lack of credible threats.” So what should we take away from all of this? Does this mean that Hamas doesn’t have supporters in the United States? That’s clearly not the case, sadly. Just look around on the majority of college campuses in America and you’ll find Hamas-loving youngsters calling for Intifada and “gassing the Jews” all over the place. But perhaps Hamas’ American supporters prefer to wave flags and generate headlines, but they aren’t the type to actually go pull off an attack and put their own lives on the line. Are they, as the saying goes, ‘all talk and no action?’ If so, we should count ourselves fortunate.

But I don’t think we can rely on that situation to hold. Another possibility is that Khaled Mashal put out his call for a day of rage barely 48 hours prior to the target date. That’s some seriously short notice to plan, equip, and execute a terror attack unless you’ve been plotting and stockpiling for quite a while and were just waiting for an opportune moment. Many of the “ISIS-inspired” attacks in the United States a few years back were pulled off by single actors, or at most two or three. But they were all later found to have been planned in great detail, with everything from vehicles to guns and bombs being procured and prepared well in advance. Perhaps our aspiring leftist terrorists simply need more advance warning.

There was one other protest (not a terror attack) in New York yesterday that merits a quick mention. It took place outside of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s home in Brooklyn. The size of this protest was described as numbering “in the hundreds” as opposed to the thousands or tens of thousands at the main event. But the pro-terrorist groups still significantly outnumbered those defending Israel and, interestingly, the number of arrests was roughly four times larger than the arrests at the other site. Even some municipal lawmakers were hauled away in cuffs.

Local lawmakers were among dozens of demonstrators calling for an end to US aid for Israel who were arrested outside New York Sen. Chuck Schumer’s Brooklyn home on Friday night, according to police sources.

The protests come on a day of city-wide “day of jihad” protests against Israel’s military response in Gaza following Hamas’ unprecedented attacks.

Hundreds of people gathered at the Grand Army Plaza for the rally, organized by Jewish Voice for Peace — a self-described anti-Zionist activist group — before marching a few blocks to the senator’s Park Slope residence and blocking the street.

This event was organized by a group calling itself Jewish Voice for Peace, which describes itself as being “anti-Zionist.” I really have to wonder how many of the members are actually Jewish or show up at any of the local synagogues on a regular basis. It’s also somewhat curious how they chose to target Chuck Schumer out of all of the politicians in New York City they could have chosen to go after. I don’t agree with Schumer on much politically, but he is still the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in Congress. He’s traveling to Israel this weekend to show his support for that nation, but he doesn’t make any decisions about how, where, or when Israel chooses to go after Hamas.

Still, this was yet another example of how members of Congress or highly placed municipal officials get a lot more protection from demonstrators and potential rioters than rank-and-file citizens do. The free speech rights of these protesters were clearly not prioritized as highly as those at the other site since some of them had to do their “speaking” from jail.