MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Police officers arrested two people on Friday afternoon during a protest with a large “Let Palestine Live” sign and flags of Palestine at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
Miami Beach police officers accused the two people of resisting arrest without violence. One of them, a teenage boy, was also accused of disorderly conduct, police said.
According to arrest reports, a protester had been using a bullhorn. After a police official told the protester that a bullhorn was not to be used, the boy, who wasn’t identified due to his age, began shouting obscenities at officers and pushed an officer away, later tensing up as he was being placed into custody for disorderly conduct.
Amani Mohammed Bairat, 19, also part of the group, impeded the arrest and was taken into custody for resisting an officer without violence, police said. Both Bairat and the teenager’s parent share the same Cutler Bay address, according to the reports.
The convention center hosted the first day of the annual Art Basel Miami Beach fair, which showcases works brought by over 270 galleries from all over the world, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“I think it’s just so one-sided ... and it makes me very upset,” said Yann Dryer, who was there for Art Basel when she walked by the protesters.
Activists used social media to share The South Florida Coalition for Palestine’s call to protest for “Palestine Liberation” from 2 to 6 p.m., where the “most expensive art is shown.”
The protest was also within walking distance of City Hall. Miami Beach Commissioner David Suarez was offended by the protesters shouting the phrase, “From The River To The Sea!” The phrase refers to Israel’s borders, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
“I am half Israeli,” Suarez said. “That means the genocide of Jews and the destruction of Israel. It’s in the Hamas charter.”
Jenin Amireh, a Palestinian-American college student from Broward County who participated in the protest and chanted the phrase, said it doesn’t mean the end of Israel.
“It means the end of the occupation, the illegal occupation, the ethnic cleansing,” Amireh said adding that she wants a “free Palestine” and a permanent ceasefire.
The protest was also close to the Design Miami satellite fair, the city’s botanical garden where there were events related to Art Basel, and a Holocaust Memorial.
“I am the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors,” said Monica Uszerowicz, a protester who said there was “no justification” for what she described as a “genocidal” attack on Palestinians.
The Jewish community is celebrating the second night of Hanukkah. The protest was near the seashell menorah that lit up after sundown on Lincoln Road.
“We are Jews, we are Palestinians, Muslims, Arabs, atheists, Christians and we coexist peacefully as people did in historic Palestine and we believe that is possible in the future,” said Nicole Morse, a Florida Atlantic University professor and protester.
Israel vowed to end Hamas after the attack on Oct. 7. Israeli troops were still trying to free over 135 hostages.
While the protesters in Miami Beach demanded a permanent cease-fire, Israeli soldiers searched for Hamas militants as urban fighting continued in Gaza during the 64th day of the war.
Videos of mass detentions of men and teenage boys in the town of Beit Lahiya went viral.
Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israeli military, reported about 200 detentions. Eylon Levy, the Israeli government’s spokesman, said they were “in areas that civilians were supposed to have evacuated weeks ago.”
In New York City, the United States vetoed a United Nations resolution for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza. The United Kingdom abstained from voting.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned, “There is a high risk of the total collapse of the humanitarian support system.”