West Virginia for Palestine

A multinational and multigenerational crowd gathered at Haddad Park in Charleston, West Virginia, on June 8, to protest the ongoing genocide in Gaza. As part of a national mobilization entitled “Biden, we are your red line,” the event was organized by “Charleston 4 Palestine” and members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.  

Demonstrators gather by the Kanawha River, Charleston, West Virginia, June 8. WW photo: Otis Grotewohl

The protest featured roughly 75 people who collectively chanted. Some of the Palestinian youth who attended read very powerful poems. All of the participants wore red, and most people also sported keffiyehs.

The tone of the chants was very militant, and they often connected the liberation of Palestine with the struggles against racism, national oppression and U.S. imperialism. Chants included: “Yemen, Yemen, make us proud, turn another ship around,” “From Palestine to Mexico, border walls have got to go,” and “From Palestine to the Philippines, stop the U.S. war machine!”

Many other chants called out U.S. politicians for their complicit role in funding the occupation and continuous genocide. Reactionary West Virginia Senators Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin were specific targets of the protesters’ chants. 

The rally received a lot of honks and cheers from many of the cars and trucks that drove by the rally. In addition to the courageous university encampments for divestment from Israel that the world witnessed in recent months, people of all ages and nationalities are mobilizing to defend Palestinians against Zionist brutality, in communities big and small.