On Sat., Jan. 10, hundreds of cities, and hundreds of thousands of people, responded to the call for an International Day of Emergency Action to support the people of Gaza. Other actions took place on Jan. 9 and Jan. 11 in response to the national call.
Outside the United States, marches took place in London, Edinburgh, Cairo, Athens, Kuala Lumpur, Beirut, Seoul, Mexico City, Jakarta, Montreal, Paris, Barcelona, Marseilles, Lyon, Oslo, Berlin, Bern, Karachi, Nablus, New Delhi, Amman, Sarajevo, Ramallah, Stockholm, and Tokyo. The protests continue to grow—the following day, another 250,000 took to the streets in Spain and more than 100,000 in Algeria.
In the United States, the Day of Action was initiated on just one week’s notice by a call from the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), Muslim American Society Freedom, Free Palestine Alliance, National Council of Arab Americans, and Al-Awda – Palestine Right to Return Coalition.
 Washington, D.C. |
In Washington, D.C., more than 20,000 took to the streets in the freezing rain to demand, “Let Gaza live!” The streets were so backed up that thousands of people in buses and cars were still arriving after the march had left.
The D.C. demonstration began with a rally at Lafayette Park in front of the White House. Featured speakers included former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, who was just on a humanitarian relief mission to Gaza when her boat was intentionally struck by an Israeli military vessel; Mahdi Bray, executive director, Muslim American Society Freedom; Rev. Graylan Hagler, national president of Ministers for Racial, Social and Economic Justice; Mounzer Sleiman, vice chairman, National Council of Arab Americans; Ralph Nader; Paul Zulkowitz, Jews Against the Occupation; Brian Becker, national coordinator, ANSWER Coalition; Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, attorney and co-founder, Partnership for Civil Justice; and others.
The spirited march then led to the Washington Post, where demonstrators denounced the paper for its biased pro-Israeli coverage of the massacre and its complete blackout of protest activities in the United States.
Los Angeles, Calif.
 Los Angeles, CA |
In Los Angeles, 10,000 people participated in a regional mass march and rally to “Let Gaza live” at the Westwood Federal Building.
Hundreds of Palestinian flags and signs reading, “Stop bombing Gaza!” and “The real terrorists: U.S./Israel war machine!” lined all sides of the street and the lawn in front of the federal government headquarters. It was the largest protest and the first major march in Southern California since the Israeli bombing campaign and invasion began.
The Arab-American community came out in full force. People traveled from San Diego, Orange County, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Riverside and all over Los Angeles to attend. The many families and young people at the protest showed intense outrage at Israel’s bombing of hospitals, schools, homes and mosques. “Gaza, Gaza don’t you cry—Palestine will never die!” was the most popular chant of the day.
A funeral procession led the march with makeshift coffins draped with Palestinian flags, representing the hundreds of people killed by Israel’s genocidal attack on Gaza. Hundreds of children followed, along with a huge, hand-made Palestinian flag, in a contingent organized by the Palestinian American Women’s Association.
After a militant march through Westwood near UCLA, the protesters gathered for a rally, which was kicked off by a symbolic die-in. Mahmud Ahmad of Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, led the action. The sound of air-raid sirens, bombs and gunfire blasted through the sound system to recreate the feeling of living in Gaza right now. Thousands of people laid down on the ground for the action. At the end, chants of “Free, free Palestine” from rally chairs Peta Linday of Youth and Student ANSWER and Rana Sharif of PAWA brought everyone to their feet with fists in the air.
Other speakers at the rally included Yousef Abudayyeh, Free Palestine Alliance; Muna Coobtee, ANSWER Coalition and National Council of Arab Americans; Zahi Damuni, Al-Awda; Rinad Abdallah, Palestinian American Women’s Association; Dr. Leila El Marayati, Kinder USA; Hussam Allyoush, Council on American Islamic Relations; Dr. Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, Mada al-Carmel, Haifa; Jim Lafferty, National Lawyers Guild; Christine Araquel, Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines; Amanda Martin, GABRIELA Network USA; Blase Bonpane, Office of the Americas; Shakeel Syed, Islamic Shura Council of Southern California; Carlos Alvarez, Party for Socialism and Liberation and candidate for L.A. mayor; Dahir Hertzallah, Muslim Student Association-West; and Preston Wood, ANSWER Coalition.
The L.A. march and rally was organized by Free Palestine Alliance, Al-Awda, ANSWER Coalition, PAWA, NCA, CAIR and the Shura Council. The hundreds of endorsers included Campaign to End Israeli Apartheid-Southern California, Riverside Area Peace & Justice Action, KmB Pro-People Youth and Libyan American Community of Southern California.
San Francisco, Calif.
 San Francisco, CA |
Nearly 10,000 protesters rallied together at the Civic Center Jan. 10 to demand an immediate end to the Israeli massacre of the people of Gaza.
Among the numerous speakers were Palestinian youth who have recently become politically active in response to ongoing Israeli military offensive. Anti-Zionist members of the Jewish community spoke in solidarity with the Palestinian people, as did representatives from several other oppressed communities.
After nearly an hour of rallying and chanting, demonstrators took to the streets in a militant march. Israeli flags went up in flames as chants of “Free Palestine!” echoed down major San Francisco streets. The march returned to the Civic Center for an equally energetic closing rally.
The steadfastness of protesters made clear they will not leave the streets until the siege of Gaza comes to an end.
Chicago, Ill.
 Chicago, IL |
On Jan. 9, over 10,000 people took to the streets of Chicago to march against the U.S.-Israeli war on Gaza, which has now taken the lives of nearly 900 Palestinians and wounded several thousands more.
The Coalition for Justice in Palestine, American Muslims for Palestine and ANSWER Chicago sponsored the action. Protesters gathered outside Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago, then marched to the Israeli consulate to demand an end to the slaughter and the illegal occupation of Palestinian lands.
Hundreds of Palestinian flags waved in the air as marchers carried signs and banners. Protesters carried signs that read, “End the War on Gaza Now” and “Free Palestine.”
The demonstration was just the latest in a series of solidarity actions in Chicago since the beginning of the murderous Israeli military offensive. On Dec. 28, 700 peopled demonstrated with less than 24 hours notice. The day after the ground invasion, over 400 came out for an emergency protest. On Jan. 6, more than 200 Palestinian supporters picketed the Israeli consulate accusing Ehud Olmert, George W. Bush an all supporters of the Israeli onslaught in the U.S. Government and media as genocidal criminals.
The people must stand together and defend the Palestinian peoples’ right to peace and self determination. Without justice there can be no peace. End the illegal occupation now!
Orlando, Fla.
 Orlando, FL |
A crowd of 2,000 demonstrators confronted a heavy police presence in downtown Orlando for the “Let Gaza Live: Florida Statewide March for Palestine” called by ANSWER Florida just six days before. The demonstration is the largest anti-war demonstration in Florida in more than a decade and certainly the largest ever protest in Florida calling for a free Palestine.
Police intimidated protesters by searching bags, forcing protestors to remove sticks from placards and denying the use of amplified sound until organizers challenged their scare tactics.
Two buses were organized out of Miami, while vans and carpools travelled from Jacksonville, Gainesville, Tallahassee, Tampa and St. Petersburg. Transportation was also organized from central Florida to the National March in Washington, D.C.
Several organizations from the Orlando area helped build the demonstration, including the Arab American Community Center, where work sessions for the protest were held nearly every night during the week; the Council on American Islamic Relations; and key university organizations such as Muslim Student Association Florida Council and Society for a Just Peace in Palestine at Rollins College.
The march and rally attracted a new layer of young Arab, Muslim, and other youth from oppressed nationalities that rose to politically and organizationally to provide leadership to the crowd. The young organizers were crucial in negotiating complicated logistical issues with the racist Orlando police, and played a key role in mobilizing the large numbers of demonstrators.
The rally was chaired by Tampa student organizers Naveen El-Nawawy and Ahmad Deeb. There was roaring applause as Emmanuel Lopez of the ANSWER Coalition told the crowd that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez had expelled the Israeli ambassador.
Lopez noted: “Venezuela is not extending their solidarity to the people of Palestine out of charity, but rather, they understand that their struggle against imperialism and for their freedom is in fact the same struggle as that of the people of Gaza. Its that real type of solidarity, built through our common struggles against a common enemy, that we have to recreate here in the United States.”
Rasha Mubarak tackled the racist notion that has led to the continuing massacre of the Palestinian people: “The mourning of an Israeli son’s killing is not more heartbreaking than a Palestinian son’s killing. An Israeli child’s shriek of fear is not louder than a Palestinian child’s shriek of fear. The tear of an Israeli mother is not more dense than a Palestinian mother’s tear.”
Other mobilizers around the state included Rise Up Tampa Bay; Florida Peace Action Network; St. George Greek Orthodox Church, United Muslim Foundation, Islamic Society of Sarasota and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. St. Pete for Peace and Refuge Ministries mobilized from the West Coast of Florida and played a big role in the success of the rally and march.
Seattle, Wash.
Hundreds of demonstrators came out to the Federal Courthouse on Stewart St. to demand an end to the U.S.-backed Israeli massacre in Gaza. The demonstration was called by the Save Gaza Campaign, a coalition of many local organizations concerned about Palestine, including Voices of Palestine, Palestine Solidarity Committee, ANSWER Seattle, Arab American Community Coalition, Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voices for Peace.
Protestors lined the street as busy downtown traffic zoomed by. Many drivers honked in support of the slogans featured on the placards. Activists on bullhorns led enthusiastic chants of “Free, free Palestine!” Speakers included Amin Odeh, Voices of Palestine; Dr. Nada Elia, National Council of Arab Americans and professor at Antioch University; Jane Cutter, ANSWER Seattle; and Judith Kolokoff, American Jews for a Just Peace.
The demonstration concluded with an impromptu march to nearby Westlake Park led by militant youth ranging from elementary and middle school to college age.
Sioux Falls, S.D.
Members of South Dakota ANSWER joined members of the Islamic Center and other activists Jan.9 to protest the ongoing Israeli occupation of Gaza.
Demonstrators chanted “Free Palestine” and “Stop the War Crimes,” showing that the spirit and militancy from their previous rally had not faded one bit despite the snowy weather. Passersby slowed down to read the placards in support of the Palestinian people and an urging an end to U.S. aid to Israel.
The protest was captured on the front page of the Argus Leader and was covered by two local television stations.
ANSWER, the Muslim Community, and the Peace and Justice Center are showing two movies in Sioux Falls: “Occupation 101” and “Gaza Strip.” ANSWER and other South Dakota activists will continue to protest the great injustice perpetrated by the U.S. and Israeli governments against the Palestinian people.
Ben Becker, Chris Huska, Emmanuel Lopez, Jane Cutter, Ian Thompson, Rachel Reynolds and Sean Pavey contributed to this report.
