On April 2 at 6:30 P.M. more than 50 people gathered at Copley Square to denounce the ongoing violence of Zionist settler colonialism and occupation in Palestine, most recently marked by the March 30 assault by the Israeli Defence Force against protesters in Gaza – an incident that left 18 Palestinians dead and more than a thousand wounded.
The speakout was called by the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) Coalition, and was joined by a number of local and national pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist organizations, including Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine, Nerturei Karta International: Orthodox Jews United Against Zionism, and Workers World Party.
After a round of chants and speeches from representatives of the organizations present at Copley, the attendees marched for about 10 minutes before arriving at the Israeli Consulate, where the speakout resumed until about 8:30 in the evening.
Hersch Rothmel of the ANSWER Coalition emceed the event and started the speakout by listing the names of the 18 Palestinians killed, followed by a moment of silence, before a series of speakers took turns denouncing Friday’s killings and the broader violence of Israeli colonialism and occupation. Rothmel told the crowd that he was celebrating Passover when he first heard about Friday’s massacre and that he “seethed with anger” when he sat down to dinner “with family members who were cheering on the Israeli soldiers.”
“In that moment,” he explained, “I remembered how important it is for Jews to denounce the Zionist project and fight against reactionary ideology.”
Nino Brown, also of the ANSWER Coalition, spoke about the role that U.S. imperialism plays in keeping the settler state of Israel afloat: “ANSWER understands that ultimately the tail does not wag the dog,” he explained. “U.S. imperialism sends approximately $4 billion dollars in aid to Israel without conditions. Israel acts as an outpost for white supremacist European American imperialism, chiefly that of the United States. Without the protection of the U.S. imperialists, the Zionist state would not be able to keep itself going with the massive rebellion by the masses of Palestinian people.”
Steve Gillis of WWP was also quick to make the connection between the U.S. and Israel. “We’re here to say the source of the problem is right here,” he declared. Talking about Israeli apartheid, he made the link to apartheid “in this country” which “was the first world historical apartheid system – based on slavery.”
Nancy Murray spoke at the rally on behalf of the Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine, an organization that focuses on Israel’s use of water as “a weapon against the Palestinian people — what we could call ‘water apartheid.’” In addition to criticizing the “environmental and health catastrophe” created by restricted access to clean water due to the occupation, Murray drew particular attention to the role of economic, diplomatic, and military ties between the U.S. and Israel: “Why I’m so indignant is because if it weren’t for the U.S., none of this would be happening.” Though saddened by the most recents deaths, Murray was unsurprised by the killings, which form part of a “steady drumbeat of deaths.” She first traveled to Palestine in 1988, during the First Intifada, and over the years has seen the aquifer water change from tasting of “salt” to “really bad seawater.” In response to the past decade’s heightened repression, she has sensed a growing frustration especially in the Gaza strip. As a result, she had already “expected there would be some kind of provocation which Israel would use to say ‘we had to.’”
Also present was Rabbi Davod Feldman and other members of the Nerturei Karta International, who came all the way from New York to support the rally. While mourning the most recent deaths and casualities, Rabbi Feldman also stressed that the problem goes much deeper than Friday’s incident, pointing to the root problem of colonialism and land seizure from the Palestinian people. “This concept of Zionism is wrong from the beginning” he stated. “All this violence that we’ve experienced for decades,” he continued, “we need to understand that this is because of this beginning of Zionism, this creation of the state of Israel.” He stated that Israel denying Palestinians the right to return is not only “unjust according to international law” but also “unjust according to Judaism.”
Many of the people present have been organizing against U.S. support for Zionist colonialism for years, and all would be quick to recognize that the work is far from over. Each group has a number of educational events and protests planned in the future. ANSWER Coalition, for example, is planning a mock trial to indict Israel on 12 counts of human rights violations (in response to Israel’s indictment on 12 counts of then 16-year Palestinian Ahed Tamimi for slapping an IDF soldier), and Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine is planning another protest in front of the Israeli consulate – both events are scheduled for later this week. Free Palestine!
