Boston students, activists rally for Palestine

Heeding the call, Rally for Palestine! Education Under Occupation, Students for Justice in Palestine from campuses across the city, some attending their first demonstration, rallied on Boston Common and marched to the Massachusetts statehouse on April 21 in solidarity with young Palestinians on the front lines of the Great Return March in Gaza.

Palestinian students led the action, with broad endorsement from local anti-war, Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions and socialist organizations. Speakers urged stepped-up BDS actions, especially the Massachusetts Against Hewlett Packard campaign, to isolate the brutal Zionist settler occupation. Israeli snipers have been murdering unarmed protesters, including schoolchildren, on live video with impunity for weeks.

An SJP statement began, “As students living in the United States on the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, we raise our voices and our fists in solidarity with our student counterparts in Palestine, who suffer daily harassments and deprivations at the hands of the Israeli occupation.”

Brian Shea, of the Disabled People’s Liberation Front and Workers World Party, emphasized uniting Palestine solidarity with self-determination for the entire Arab world, including Syria. “We demand that the U.S. immediately stop the bombing and war against the popularly elected government of Syria,” said Shea. “End all support for the Israeli occupation, and get out of Jerusalem and all Arab nations now! Victory to Palestine!”