Protests across U.S. condemn Israeli massacre

By Betsey Piette

Philadelphia Photo: Kelly Valdez

The worldwide storm of protests that followed Israel’s murderous attack against the Gaza Freedom Flotilla continued the week following the May 31 pre-dawn assault, an atrocity that resulted in the death of at least nine activists and injury to scores more who were attempting to deliver 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Protesters in dozens of cities — perhaps as many as a hundred — across the U.S. are voicing a common demand for an end to the U.S.-backed Israeli blockade of Gaza and an end to U.S. funding of Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Demonstrations also took place in cities across Canada, and major protests occurred on June 4 throughout the Middle East and on June 5 across Europe, including as many as 20,000 people in London.

On a worldwide scale larger numbers of people than ever before are involved both in planning new attempts to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza and in the movement to boycott, divest or win sanctions against Israel.

Detroit WW photo: Bryan G. Pfeifer

Over 40 protesters gathered in downtown Tacoma, Wash., on May 31 to condemn the Israeli raid on the humanitarian aid flotilla. The emergency protest had been organized through a series of e-mails and phone calls earlier in the day. It included Jewish activists and members of United for Peace of Pierce County, People for Peace, Justice and Healing and Women in Black.

Over 200 people, largely from Palestinian and Arab communities, demonstrated on June 1 in front of the Israeli Consulate in Atlanta as part of a protest organized by the Movement to End Israeli Apartheid-Georgia. There was significant participation by Jewish activists opposed to Israeli aggression. Joe Beasley, director of Rainbow/Push, attended as well as representatives of faith organizations.

Buffalo, N.Y. WW photo: Ellie Dorrittie

In Cleveland 60 people including Arab youth protested outside the office of Sen. Sherrod Brown (Dem.) and then marched a few blocks to the office of Sen. George Voinovich (Rep.) in a June 1 action sponsored by the Middle East Peace Forum. The two-hour protest received many honks of support from passing motorists.

On June 2 the Jersey City Peace Movement held a very successful, emergency vigil and rally outside Congressman Steve Rothman’s (Dem.) Jersey City, N.J., office. Participants included N.J. Action 21’s Narciso Castillo, recent City Council candidate Adela Rohena and JCPM president Erik-Anders Nilsson along with other members of his organization.

New York WW photo: Alan Roth

After the action at Rothman’s office the protesters marched through Journal Square with large posters in solidarity with Gaza.

On May 31, June 1 and June 4 there were protests in New York, with 1,000 people on the last date marching from the Times Square area to the Israeli U.N. Mission on the East Side. Al-Awda, the International Action Center and many other organizations participated, along with a contingent from the Turkish community carrying their country’s flags.

New York WW photo: John Catalinotto

In Richmond, Va., more than 75 people protested June 1 and called on the United Nations to indict Israeli leaders for mass murder and violation of international law. They also demanded an immediate end to the annual $3 billion U.S. subsidy to Israel and called on Gov. Bob McDonnell to dissolve the Virginia-Israel Advisory Board, the state’s only agency formed to promote trade with a specific foreign country. Participants included Arab Americans, Black activists, anarchists and representatives of local peace organizations.

More than 3,000 people protested outside the Israeli Consulate in Chicago on June 1. The diverse crowd included Arabs, African Americans and Latinos/as demanding an end to the siege of Gaza and an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands.

New York WW photo: John Catalinotto

Awad Hamdan of American Muslims for Palestine said, “We demand that Israel stop its deadly actions and stop blaming the civilians for their deaths. This was Israel’s fault.” Another speaker compared Arizona to Gaza, noting that Arizona’s new anti-immigrant law is like Israeli apartheid that oppresses Palestinians. The Palestine Solidarity Group in Chicago has launched a campaign to pressure the city to sever its ties with Israel.

A second protest on June 2 targeted Israel’s inclusion in the Sister City program’s 50th anniversary banquet dinner attended by representatives of more then 70 governments. Hamdan said, “We’ve been urging Chicago for years to drop the sister city of Petach Tikva, which was the first ‘Jewish-only’ settlement in Palestine. They haven’t listened, and we will continue to protest.” Demonstrators also demanded that Israel free Ameer Makhoul, a Palestinian grassroots activist kidnapped from his home in May and tortured at Petach Tikva.

On June 1 around 350 people attended a rally outside the Israeli Consulate in Philadelphia and then marched down all three lanes of Market Street to City Hall. The march ended with a rally outside the offices of the Philadelphia Inquirer, where demonstrators called on the newspaper to end its one-sided coverage in favor of the Israeli settler state.

A number of the participants were Palestinian, mostly youth, including a dynamic group of high school students who led the march and the chants. At one point a small group of Zionists attempted to stop the march, but protesters pushed right through them.

The protest was called by the Philly International Action Center and endorsed by Jewish Voices for Peace, Brandywine Peace Community, Philly Against War, Delaware Valley Vietnam Vets, Socialist Action and others. Several family members of the Fort Dix Five who held a rally earlier in the day attended.

Around 500 people, including many high school and college students from the Arab-American community, rallied outside the city hall in Dearborn, Mich., on June 1 in a protest called by the Congress of Arab American Organizations. The protesters challenged President Barack Obama’s policy of continued support for Israel’s occupation of Palestine as well as the spending of billions of dollars for an unjustifiable war on Afghanistan. The following day the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice and other organizations held a protest in downtown Detroit outside the federal building.

Dozens of protesters gathered in downtown Indianapolis on June 2, holding signs and waving Palestinian and Turkish flags. Many held candles to mourn the nine activists killed onboard the flotilla.

Abraham Alfaran, who has family in Gaza, stated, “It brings tears to my eyes to see the children die and to see the people who are trying to feed the unfed, the people that are under siege, lose their lives.” Jessica Neisley, who spent three months in Gaza in 2004 with the International Solidarity Movement, also spoke.

On June 5 over a thousand protesters rallied and marched in downtown San Francisco. The demonstration was organized and endorsed by a broad coalition of anti-war, labor, community, Palestinian and solidarity organizations.

Cristina Gutierrez, speaking for the local San Francisco immigrant rights group Barrios Unidos, expressed her community’s solidarity with the Palestinian people. “As an immigrant, I walk hand in hand with the Palestinians,” Gutierrez stated.

Husam Zakharia, a young Palestinian activist, made the connection between the reactionary forces supporting the anti-immigrant law SB 1070 in Arizona and the leaders of Israel who attacked the flotilla. “The same forces that are dragging immigrants out of their communities at home are killing the people of Palestine,” he said.

Jack Heymann, a labor activist and Executive Board member of Local 10, International Longshore Workers Union, brought solidarity greetings from his union. He noted that the longshore workers have a rich history of fighting against repression. In the U.S., ILWU locals refused to load cargo bound for South Africa to protest apartheid. “In June 2009, dockworkers in Durban, South Africa, refused to load an Israeli ship to protest the massacre of 1,500 Palestinians in Gaza,” Heyman stated.

Chanting, “Occupation is a crime from Iraq to Palestine!” the demonstration marched up Market Street and ended at the Civic Center.

Gloria Rubac, Bev Hiestand, Martha Grevatt, Dianne Mathiowetz, Phil Wilayto, Kris Hamel, Judy Greenspan and others contributed to this article.

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