 "Pro-Palestinian demonstrators attend a protest near the Met Gala. Reuters")
Pro-Palestinian protests reached the doors of the Met Gala in New York after demonstrators rallied outside the venue on Monday against the ongoing war in Gaza.
Met Gala, an annual fundraising event held for the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute, is held by stalwarts from the entertainment and fashion industry.
The protests at the gala come days after top universities in the US were engulfed by anti-Israel protests that saw the arrests of hundreds of students by the New York Police Department (NYPD) as part of their efforts to clear encampments on campus.
Similar arrests were made in Monday’s protests.
It is, however, unclear how many arrests were made as stars walked the carpet and posed for photos, but AFP journalists confirmed several arrests while the New York Daily News reported the number was about a dozen, out of hundreds that gathered near the soiree.
Eyewitnesses around the venue said they heard protestors chanting “Rafah!, Gaza!” Police were seen blocking protestors rushing into the gala as they were also trying to prevent fans from getting a glimpse of celebrities.
Some protestors reportedly said that they were intending to crash the gala.
However, Monday’s protest appeared unconnected to the demonstrations that have rocked Columbia’s campus, culminating in the university calling the police to clear out student protesters.