During Monday morning rush hour, dozens of anti-Israel activists decided to disregard the livelihoods and concerns of New Yorkers and tri-state commuters by simultaneously blocking traffic through the Holland Tunnel in Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg bridges.
The “Shut It Down for Palestine” protesters held signs exclaiming “Lift the Siege of Gaza, Ceasefire Now” and “End the Occupation, Free All Palestinian Prisoners, USA Stop Arming Israel” while chanting “Free, free Palestine!”
Some chained themselves together with concrete-filled tires.
There are fewer individuals more scummy than those who believe they must disrupt the lives of others, even placing people in harm’s way, to achieve their desired political outcome.
They rationalize their behavior by claiming it’s for a good cause, but causes that are worth advocating for don’t require holding innocent people hostage: This is a conscious choice made by narcissistic terrorists.
Worse, the decision to take us all hostage only accomplishes feeding our attention-seeking captors’ egos because it doesn’t come close to remedying the problem.
After all, the American public doesn’t have a say in the matter.
Monday’s blockades lasted more an hour and resulted in hundreds of arrests — Port Authority Police arrested 130 alone at the Holland Tunnel.
In one viral video, a driver angrily pleaded with protesters to let him onto the Manhattan Bridge.
“You’re disrupting traffic, idiots! You can’t do that, that’s against the law!” he said before getting out of his vehicle and pushing multiple activists blocking it.
His frustration boiling over, the black father shouted, “I have a daughter in Brooklyn! I have to get home!”
This shouldn’t be happening here. No one should have to beg to go home.
But this activist strategy — creating vehicular hostages by blocking highways, bridges and tunnels — has gained traction throughout the United States.
Protesters blocked Seattle’s I-5 Jan. 6, with traffic backed up more than six miles, and I-190 near Chicago’s O’Hare airport Dec. 23.
Manipulative leftists will try to guilt you for supposedly being more concerned about traffic than the deaths of thousands of people in Gaza, but it’s only a deflection from their own intolerable behavior.
They cannot answer how keeping you from making it to your job on time, putting your employment in jeopardy, will save a life in Gaza because they know it won’t; it’s far-fetched aspiration at best.
They’re typically the products of privilege who have no idea what it’s like to drive more than an hour to work to make just enough money to survive or put $3 in your gas tank because it’s all the cash you have.
We’re supposed to sacrifice for others halfway across the world by force, and if you complain about someone robbing you of your freedom of movement, you’re somehow the bad guy?
Terrorism is defined as the unlawful use of coercion against a civilian population or government to further political, social or ideological objectives — and what is happening across America fits this definition.
We are methodically being terrorized by organized leftist ideologues who are leveraging our civil liberties in pursuit of political change across the world, hoping our discomfort will miraculously cause the United States to change the trajectory of Israel’s endeavors.
There’s a reason they aren’t just bringing their banners and megaphones to state capitals and DC, and it’s because the visible discomfort of innocent Americans gets the attention of politicians quicker than a rhyming chant outside government buildings: This is the mentality of terrorists.
What we are witnessing is only the beginning of a possible escalation by organized factions who will not stop until there is a clear deterrent to shutting down major arteries of American cities.
There need to be harsh and consistent ramifications for this type of behavior as it puts the safety of others in jeopardy, especially people in dire need of emergency services.
The American public should not be held hostage for one second to satisfy privileged socialists who don’t care about the aftermath of disrupting your life.
You teach people how to treat you, and if New York prosecutors give these people slaps on the wrist, we’re only teaching them that we are willing to endure their petulance whenever they see fit with minimal consequences.
America’s policy is that we do not negotiate with terrorists, and we shouldn’t start now.
Adam B. Coleman is the author of “Black Victim to Black Victor” and founder of Wrong Speak Publishing. Follow him on Substack: adambcoleman.substack.com.