“End the Starvation”: Jewish Rabbis & Allies Outside NY Trump Hotel Call for U.S. to Stop Arming Israel

August 5, 2025

AMY GOODMAN: I’m going to turn right now to here in New York. There have been mass protests about what’s going on in Gaza and the West Bank, as Prime Minister Netanyahu says he’s going to occupy the entire Gaza Strip, escalate the war there. In Sydney, Australia, hundreds of thousands of people marched. On Friday, hundreds took over the office lobby of New York Senators Gillibrand and Schumer, who voted against Senator Bernie Sanders’ move to stop arming Israel. Last night, at Columbus Circle outside Trump International Hotel, hundreds also protested in a protest led by the Jewish American group IfNotNow and other Jewish leaders.

AMY GOODMAN: I’m Amy Goodman from Democracy Now!, standing in front of Trump International Hotel at Columbus Circle, right on Central Park. Scores of people have been arrested, including rabbis. Here in front of the hotel, people are holding banners that say “Stop ethnic cleansing,” “Jews say, 'No more.'” They’re holding banners. There are many signs on the ground: “Stop starvation,” “Stop ethnic cleansing,” “Never again is now.”

PROTESTERS: Let Gaza live! Let Gaza live!

MOTAZ AZAIZA: I’m Motaz Azaiza, genocide survivor from Gaza Strip. Today I’m 26 years old, and I’m witnessing Jewish brothers are protesting against the genocide, against the Israeli occupation turned the genocide in my home in Gaza, to free Palestine from the occupation. It means a lot to me. Around 16 months — after 16 months, people still protesting, people still calling for a free Palestine, to stop the genocide, means a lot, means a lot to me as a Palestinian from Gaza. I lost my family. I lost my friends. And these people are loyal, loyal to us, loyal to our souls.

AMY GOODMAN: Gaza know what’s happening here, these kinds of arrests in front of Trump Tower?

MOTAZ AZAIZA: They know. They watch this on Twitter. Today, I’m going to share it with the people of Gaza. But, unfortunately, if you are starving, your kids are hungry, they didn’t go to school for two years, it’s going to — not going to make you happy, you know? We need something on the ground in Gaza. And this, hopefully, will lead to something to happen in Gaza.

RABBI ARI LEV FORNARI: My name is Rabbi Ari Lev Fornari, and I’m a rabbi for ceasefire who believes that they should end the starvation in Gaza. It’s worth taking every risk we can to save every life possible. There are 2 million people in Gaza starving every single day. We just read on Tisha B’Av that if there is a hungry child, you need to feed them bread.

AMY GOODMAN: Why in front of Trump Tower?

RABBI ARI LEV FORNARI: Trump is responsible for funding and fueling this horrible genocide in Gaza and enabling Netanyahu and his genocidal practices. The only way that Palestinians and Israelis can be safe, including the hostages who are held in Gaza, is if the people of Palestine are free. We just saw that Evyatar David, one of the remaining living Israeli hostages, is starving. He’s starving because everyone in Gaza is starving. Food aid to Gaza will save the remaining hostages, and it will save the children and the people of Gaza, who deserve to live. We’re here to say, “Let Gaza live,” to risk everything to say, “Never again. Let Gaza live.”

MOTAZ AZAIZA: Every day, like with a phone — I have two phones. Every day, the two phones don’t stop from messaging. People are starving. People need food. People need money. They don’t have cash. They have — they have nothing. They can’t leave, and they don’t want them to stay. They can’t use the sea. They can’t swim even. So, it’s terrifying, what is happening there and what’s still happening. And today, Netanyahu issued a decision that he’s going to occupy all of Gaza Strip. I’m worried about my grandmother, the rest of my family, my house, my friends.

AMY GOODMAN: That was Motaz Azaiza, the world-renowned Gazan photographer, who just recently left Gaza, as so many of his family and friends have been killed, and the Philadelphia Rabbi Ari Lev Fornari. That does it for that segment. Special thanks to Jake Horgan, Ellie Kahn and Kevin Rabinovich.

 Eight More Palestinians Starve to Death as Netanyahu Plans to Fully Occupy Gaza Strip

At least eight more Palestinians starved to death in Gaza over the past 24 hours, including seven children, raising the hunger-related death toll to 188. Palestinian officials say Israel is allowing just 86 trucks carrying desperately needed food, medicine and other supplies into Gaza per day — far short of the 600 trucks that aid organizations say are needed to meet the basic needs of Gaza’s more than 2 million people.

On Monday, scores of Palestinians stood in long lines outside a makeshift soup kitchen in Khan Younis hoping for a meal.

Hassan Abu Zayed: “This aid does not reach us. We do not see it. People like us do not get aid. Most of the people do not get the aid. We hear about it in the news, but we do not see it. We do not see it on the ground. I hope that the crossings open and that the food enters and the flour and the aid enters for people and that this big crisis that we are living ends.”

Israeli attacks across Gaza over the past day have killed at least 87 Palestinians, including 52 aid seekers. Another 644 people were injured, bringing the official toll of the wounded to over 150,000 since October 2023.

Meanwhile, there are reports of heavy airstrikes and artillery fire as Israel steps up its assault on Gaza. Israeli media is reporting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to announce plans to fully occupy the entire Gaza Strip, including areas where it’s believed Hamas is holding Israeli hostages.

Over 40 Arrested Outside Trump International Hotel in NYC Protesting Israel’s Starvation of Gaza

Here in New York, police arrested more than 40 people Monday evening as they held a nonviolent protest outside the Trump International Hotel demanding an end to Israel’s starvation campaign in Gaza and a halt to U.S. weapons transfers to Israel. The protests were led by the Jewish American group IfNotNow. Democracy Now! spoke to Ari Lev Fornari, a rabbi from Philadelphia, as he was being arrested for blocking traffic.

Rabbi Ari Lev Fornari: “The only way that Palestinians and Israelis can be safe, including the hostages who are held in Gaza, is if the people of Palestine are free. We just saw that Evyatar David, one of the remaining living Israeli hostages, is starving. He’s starving because everyone in Gaza is starving. Food aid to Gaza will save the remaining hostages, and it will save the children and the people of Gaza, who deserve to live. We’re here to say, 'Let Gaza live,' to risk everything to say, 'Never again.'”

Activists from 44 Countries Plan Largest-Ever Gaza Aid Flotilla in September

A coalition of direct action groups has announced the largest attempt yet by civilians to break the siege on Gaza. The Global Sumud Flotilla aims to launch dozens of boats carrying humanitarian aid from Spain, Tunisia and elsewhere in early September, with delegates from at least 44 countries on board. Later in the broadcast, we’ll speak with U.S. labor leader Chris Smalls, who’s just returned to the United States after he was abducted by Israeli forces from the Handala aid vessel as it sailed toward Gaza. Smalls says he was beaten by his Israeli guards.