By Iclal Turan
WASHINGTON (AA) - A group of pro-Palestinian protestors led by the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) staged a sit-in outside the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Monday morning, calling for an arms embargo on Israel amid its ongoing offensive in Gaza, which has killed more than 42,000 people since last October.
"Gaza burns, Wall Street booms! Arms embargo now!" the protestors were heard as chanting in a video posted on X.
The protest began just before the stock market’s 9:30 a.m. opening in Manhattan’s financial district, NBC News reported, citing a spokesperson for the New York Police Department (NYPD).
Several arrests were made, though the exact number was not immediately available, it added.
In post on X, JVP said: "On Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, the Israeli military carried out a mass extermination in North Gaza, raining down bombs on refugee camps and school shelters. They are still massacring family after family now."
"As Gaza is bombed, Wall Street booms. The stock prices of weapons manufacturers have skyrocketed this year. The US war economy is profiting from genocide. The 50+ members of Congress who invest in arms companies get richer every day," it added.
The group stressed that the US is "not arming" Israel to protect Jewish people, but rather for "its own profit and control of the region."
Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, which killed nearly 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures.
Nearly 42,300 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 98,600 injured, according to Gaza health authorities. Reports indicate that thousands may still be trapped beneath the rubble, while civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and schools, has been targeted and destroyed as people sought shelter.