‘Let Gaza live!’

Protests continue throughout U.S.

By Cheryl LaBash

As of Jan. 13, protests, vigils and mass marches are continuing throughout the U.S. against Israel’s vicious assault on Gaza.

Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities are gaining allies to their strong outcry and are beginning to target U.S. corporations profiting from or supporting Israeli apartheid.

Palestinians cry out their anguish. New York, Jan. 11. WW photo: G. Dunkel

In Atlanta on Jan. 5, street demonstrations continued at the Israeli consulate, marching through rush-hour traffic past Starbucks, the office of Rep. John Lewis—who voted for a congressional “support for Israel” resolution the day before—and CNN headquarters. Kali Akuno, of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and U.S. Human Rights Network, likened the struggle of Katrina/Rita survivors to return to the U.S. Gulf Coast to the Palestinian right of return.

As classes resumed in Cincinnati and Seattle, events were held on some campuses with increasing activism.

More than 200 protesters demonstrated against U.S.-backed Israeli aggression at the Oklahoma Capitol Jan. 6. The majority of the protesters were Muslim-American, but Christians, Jews and nonreligious folks also expressed their outrage at the ongoing genocide of Palestinians.

In Charlotte, N.C., demonstrations on Jan. 7, 10 and 11 brought out from 50 to 100 protesters each day to chant and hold signs at busy intersections, including chanting down a pro-U.S./Israel rally. On Jan. 9, 16 people delivered a protest letter to Rep. Sue Myrick’s office.

Tucson, Ariz., has seen daily demonstrations since Jan. 4, when a group of 185 people countered a Zionist “Stand with Israel” rally. The demonstrations attract from 20 to 50 people at busy intersections during the evening rush hour. On Jan. 9, 100 people with a sea of Palestinian flags and “Let Gaza live” signs were met with honks of support, raised fists and peace signs from passing motorists and pedestrians.

On Jan. 10 thousands of Arab, Palestinian, Muslim, Jewish, Christian and progressive individuals, families and organizations participated in the Rally and March for Gaza in downtown San Francisco, organized by the Free Palestine Alliance and the ANSWER Coalition. A woman spoke in solidarity with the family and community of African-American 22-year-old Oscar Grant, who was fatally shot in the back on Jan. 1 by a transit cop while he lay face down and handcuffed on a train platform.

A protest drew more than 100 to the downtown Buffalo, N.Y., office of Sen. Charles Schumer on Jan. 8. When police diverted rush-hour traffic from passing by the demonstration, the rally became a march to City Hall instead. However, the outrage at continuing Israeli war crimes in Gaza couldn’t be contained in one protest, and another demonstration was held the following day.

More than 15,000 people rallied in Times Square in New York City on Jan. 11. The crowd, which was filled with families and youth, was enraged at the killing of more than 800 Palestinians and the horrific wounding of thousands more.

Activists from anti-war and working-class movements joined people from the Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities. Many from the Latina/o community were present, linking attacks on immigrants with the struggle of the Palestinians. One sign stated, “No more walls in Palestine or Mexico.” Another declared, “Mexico loves Gaza.” Teresa Gutierrez, a leader of the May 1st Coalition for Immigrant Rights, noted the solidarity that Venezuela has shown. “When [Venezuelan President] Hugo Chávez expelled the Israeli Consulate, he was speaking for all of us,” she said to cheers from the crowd.

A representative of the December 12th Movement and Blacks Against Genocide compared the 60 years of oppression of Palestinians with slavery and Jim Crow laws in the U.S. and apartheid in South Africa.

The protesters marched past the New York Times and Time Warner offices to CNN, chanting “CNN, New York Times, stop hiding Israeli crimes.”

The police were hostile throughout the day, pushing people off the sidewalks into barricades that lined the streets. People leaving the demonstration were attacked and pepper sprayed, others were pushed and struck. One provocateur grabbed a Palestinian flag and began trampling on it. When people tried to retrieve it they were attacked; the police arrested nine of them, including a 16-year-old.

After nearly 30 hours in lockup—six hours over the legal limit—the nine young Arabs were released on their own recognizance just before midnight on Jan. 12. All had been stomped and beaten and weren’t fed in the jail. Six were charged with felonies, three with misdemeanors. Court dates have been set for April 14 and 16.

The police attacks were supported by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who earlier in the week had rushed to Israel to express support for Israel’s killing of Palestinians. On Jan. 7 hundreds gathered in front of City Hall to show their outrage against Bloomberg, throwing their shoes at a billboard of him and then marching in a cold rainfall to the federal building.

With chants of “When people are occupied, resistance is justified!” rally organizers estimate that up to 30,000 marched in Washington, D.C., Jan. 10 to protest the U.S.-backed Israeli occupation and military invasion of the Gaza strip.

Rally speakers included former U.S. Congressperson Cynthia McKinney, who recently attempted to bring aid to Gaza with the Free Gaza Movement, only to have the boat she was on repeatedly rammed by Israeli ships. McKinney challenged the U.S. media for their censorship of the carnage in Gaza.

“They are witness to 15 days of war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. We don’t see the images. They are neatly censored from our view in this country,” McKinney noted.

After the rally a spirited, militant march wove its way past the White House and the offices of Lockheed Martin, Caterpillar and the Washington Post. Hail, sleet and freezing rain never dampened the predominantly Palestinian marchers’ resolve.

The demonstration was called by the ANSWER Coalition; the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation; the Free Palestine Alliance; the National Council of Arab Americans; and Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition.

“Let Gaza Live!” was the main slogan on Jan. 10 when thousands rallied and marched at the Westwood Federal Building in Los Angeles. The protest, part of a national call for coordinated actions, was sponsored and endorsed by many organizations, including Al-Awda, the Palestinian American Women Association, the Muslim American Society, CAIR, the Free Palestine Alliance, ANSWER and the International Action Center. When Wilshire Boulevard was closed to vehicle traffic, the street filled with hundreds of Palestinian flags and some Venezuelan, Cuban and Ecuadoran flags. The march snaked through Westwood Village, near the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles. Although the turnout was largely from the Southern California Arab populations, there was also a strong presence from the anti-war movement.

In Boston, on Jan. 10 about 1,000 demonstrated in a rally called by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Coffins and signs represented those who have died in Gaza. Protesters marched through downtown Boston’s shopping district, past a military recruiter’s office and the Israeli Consulate, ending in a short rally in Copley Square. That evening, the International Action Center hosted a forum on Gaza where Palestinian activist Ahmad Kawash, Jewish labor leader Steve Kirschbaum and City Councilor Chuck Turner all expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people. Turner will introduce a resolution into the Boston City Council against the genocide in Gaza.

On Jan. 9 a trans-led protest against state violence in Providence, R.I., called by What Queer?!, mourned the then-800 dead in Gaza, along with those suffering at the hands of the state, from undocumented workers to Oscar Grant in Oakland and “teenagers who are coerced into joining the military.”

On Jan. 8 demonstrators filled the federal building plaza in downtown Detroit. Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims were joined by numerous progressive organizations including Jewish Voices for Peace, the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice and religious leaders. African-American bystanders warmly greeted the massive, militant march as it wound through downtown to an indoor rally at Central United Methodist Church. About 100 people came out to the Ann Arbor, Mich., federal building on Jan. 2. Grand Rapids, Mich., reported vigils on Jan. 5 and 6 with a rally on Jan. 9. In Kalamazoo, Mich., daily vigils were held, with a rally on Jan. 9.

Contributors to this article include David Dixon, Ellie Dorritie, Imani Henry, Joan Marquardt, Dianne Mathiowetz, Frank Neisser, Oklahoma Independent Media Center (okimc.org), Betsey Piette, Bryan Pfeifer, Brenda Ryan, Gerry Scoppettuolo, Paul Teitelbaum, U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (endtheoccupation.org) and Maggie Vascassenno.

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