A group of pro-Palestine protesters entered the New York headquarters of Fox News’s parent company on Friday, accusing the network of covering up “genocide.”
The activist organization ANSWER Coalition organized the demonstration. The protesters gathered in the lobby of the News Corp building, waving Palestinian flags and holding a banner that read, “Fox News’ lies cover up genocide.”
The protesters clapped and chanted, “Fox News, Fox News, you can’t hide, your lies cover up genocide.”
ANSWER coalition wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that “hundreds” of people attended the protest. But a spokesperson for the New York Police Department told The Hill that there were only about 30 protesters. The NYPD took 16 people into custody, the spokesperson said.
RIGHT NOW: Activists staging massive disruption at the NYC HQ of the corporation that owns Fox News to protest its propaganda to justify Israel’s massacre of Palestinians.
Hundreds poured into the NewsCorp lobby chanting “Fox News’ lies cover up genocide!” #ShutItDown4Palestine pic.twitter.com/TSFA2Zh8h7
— ANSWER Coalition (@answercoalition) November 17, 2023
More than two-thirds of Americans support a cease-fire in Gaza, where fighting has continued relentlessly since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. The death toll has now passed 12,000 civilians, the Gaza government said Friday, and more than two-thirds of those casualties are women and children.
Slowly, calls for a cease-fire are growing in the halls of Congress too. A total of 34 lawmakers have called for an end to fighting: 33 representatives, including the first Jewish lawmaker, Becca Balint, and one senator, Dick Durbin.
Congress has been overwhelmed by the outpour of public support for a cease-fire. Democrats reportedly are telling their staff to let calls from voters go to voicemail while the party forms an official opinion.
President Joe Biden has so far resisted calls for a cease-fire, though, telling reporters last week that there was “no possibility” of one. Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer participated in a March for Israel rally on Tuesday.
One of the speakers at the rally was far-right evangelical Pastor John Hagee, a known antisemite who once claimed Jews were responsible for the Holocaust. Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who last month suggested that civilians in Gaza are legitimate targets, also attended the rally.
On Wednesday, Democratic Representative Brad Sherman spread dangerous misinformation when he described a protest calling for a cease-fire “pro-terrorist.”