On July 27 several dozen Palestinians and allies faced off against over a hundred Zionists to protest an Israel solidarity rally in the predominately Jewish neighborhood of Squirrel Hill in Pittsburgh. Unfazed by rain, Palestine solidarity activists stood outside during the duration of the rally and an extra hour afterwards to match the Zionists chant for chant. Protest organizer Nina Visgarda said, “We’re here supporting the masses. We are here to say we are no long afraid to speak out and we deserve to be listened to as much as the other side does.”
The Israel solidarity rally had originally been planned as an outside event. A large stage had been set up with a banner that read “Israel Now! United We Stand: One People, One Land.” The fact that no Muslims or Arabs, let alone Palestinians, were speakers at the event showed blatantly which people did not fit into the Zionists’ plan for the occupied land.
Forecasts for rain pushed the event inside the Jewish Community Center. Palestine activists stood along the sidewalk, holding up signs with the names and ages of children murdered by Israel’s weeks long assault on Gaza as the rally’s attendees filed past. Some attendees hurled insults at the Palestine activists who stood strong under the heat.
One attendee, a Russian immigrant to Israel, was one of the most hostile. “What are you doing here?” he shouted. “Go back to Gaza!” He also boasted of how he had killed Palestinians while serving in the Israel Defense Forces as tefillin were being strapped to his arm and head.
After the rally ended, many attendees came out with Israeli signs and flags and began to gather only inches from Palestine activists. The situation became incredibly tense as the two sides shouted chants at each other almost literally face to face. It was in this moment that the different nature of the two sides was displayed: Palestinians chanted “stop killing kids” and “stop bombing schools” while the Zionists danced and chanted “IDF!” and Palestinian peace signs were met with Zionist middle fingers. Eventually back-up cops were called to push the Zionists across the street but Palestinians continued chanting “the whole world is watching” and “occupiers always lose!”
This demonstration was the latest action in three weeks of Pittsburgh solidarity with Palestine. Weekly rallies have been held at which many hundreds of people gathered to hold signs, listen to poetry, read the names of victims, and speak out against U.S. and Israeli crimes against
Palestinians. During this span of time, over 1,000 Palestinians, over 200 of whom were children have been killed by U.S.-supplied Israeli jets and tanks. Outraged by these crimes, Pittsburgh activists from the ANSWER Coalition and the Thomas Merton Center’s Anti-War Committee have organized a bus from Pittsburgh to the National March on the White House on August 2. Over 30,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C. in 2009 when the ANSWER Coalition called for a similar march in response to Israel’s last assault on Gaza.
