Anti-Israel activists protested outside Brooklyn Navy Yard on Wednesday, calling on the industrial park to evict Crye Precision, which they claim licenses its MultiCam camouflage pattern to Agilite, an Israeli tactical gear company. The company uses the pattern to manufacture helmets, vests and gear covers used by Israel Defense Forces soldiers.
Officers responded to the demonstration, which ended before 8 p.m. “with no incidents reported,” a spokesperson for the New York City Police Department told JNS.
In video and photos of the protest, demonstrators wore keffiyehs and played drums while shouting through bullhorns. In one photo, shared by a demonstrator, signage for companies that lease in Brooklyn Navy Yard has been vandalized with graffiti that reads, “Free Palestine,” “Death to IDF=ICE,” “F**k Israelis,” “Glory to Iran” and “F**k your rape apartheid genocide colony, burn in hell.”
Promotional material for the protest, organized by a coalition of groups, including CUNY for Palestine and Demilitarize Brooklyn Navy Yard, stated: “Easy Aerial evicted. Crye Precision: You’re next.”
Organizers stated that “the Brooklyn Navy Yard continues to house Crye Precision, which manufactures uniforms and tactical gear for ICE, the IOF and the U.S. military.”
Brooklyn Navy Yard ended its lease with drone company Easy Aerial in February after the same groups called for its eviction, though the industrial complex told JNS that Israel was not a factor in its decision to not renew the company’s lease.
