On Wednesday, former Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal made a worldwide call to Muslims and Palestinian radicals to demonstrate on Friday after the terror attacks on Israel, as my colleague Brandon Morse wrote:
Former Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal gave a speech on Tuesday encouraging Muslims and Palestinian supporters to display their anger and begin pro-Palestinian demonstrations on Friday while begging for donations for Hamas to continue its war with Israel.
As reported by Reuters, Mashaal primarily aimed his speech at those living in the Arab and Islamic world, encouraging them to "head to the squares and streets of the Arab and Islamic world on Friday."
"Tribes of Jordan, sons of Jordan, brothers and sisters of Jordan... This is a moment of truth and the borders are close to you, you all know your responsibility," Mashaal said.
He also addressed all who teach and learn "jihad," or the Muslim holy war.
"To all scholars who teach jihad... to all who teach and learn, this is a moment for the application (of theories)," he added.
In the wake of Mashaal's missive, the New York Police Department (NYPD) isn't taking any chances, announcing Thursday that all officers should consider any previously scheduled time off or shift changes null and void Friday:
The NYPD has ordered all cops to report in uniform starting Friday in anticipation of potential unrest stemming from a call by the former leader of Hamas to stage global demonstrations in support of Palestinians, The Post has learned.
“All uniformed members of the service in every rank, will perform duty in the uniform of the day and be prepared for deployment,” read a Wednesday night memo sent to all NYPD members.
Cops will not be granted excusals or shift changes and the order will remain in effect “until further notice,” according to the memo.
The internal memo added that it will also be "beefing up security at all of its 77 police precincts, assigning additional cops to monitor entryways and parking areas at the stationhouses...."
The report continued:
Additionally, the department activated its Joint Operations Center (JOC) at its Manhattan headquarters in anticipation of possible mayhem.
Multiple agencies — including the Sanitation Department, the Triborough Bridge & Tunnel Authority and the FDNY — will be required to alert the JOC “as soon as they become aware of any incidents related to this event” from Thursday through Sunday, the memo states.