Milwaukee, WI – The bright sun rose above Milwaukee during the early afternoon on Sunday, February 18, as a crowd of over 1000 people gathered outside of the Milwaukee County Courthouse to demand “Hands off Rafah” and an end to U.S. aid to Israel. The Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine brought together people from across the state to march through downtown Milwaukee in a message of unity and solidarity with the people of Palestine.

The resilient spirit of the Palestinian community was in full display on Sunday. Salah Sarsour, president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, stated, “The words ‘give up’ are not in our dictionary. The people of Gaza don’t raise the white flag. They stand tall!”

The participants at the march stood tall with Palestine, calling out the elected officials who refuse to listen to the movement and continue to fund the genocide. Lo Cross spoke on behalf of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, stating, “It’s very on brand for senators to move forward with the $9.5 billion aid package to Israel when the U.S. is making headlines at home about how the top 10% of this country own over 66% of all wealth! Do you all struggle every day to put food on the table just so that the U.S. can go bomb innocent people in Rafah? Is that right?”

The first stop of the march was at the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC). The MMAC has recently formed part of an advocacy group that is working side by side with weapons manufacturers in the Wisconsin Defense Industry Council (WDIC).

Sara Onitsuka, chair of the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee stated, “The WDIC aims to broaden the influence of the defense industry in Wisconsin on a national scale, to strengthen the relationships between small and large defense corporations, and in their words, ‘give defense contractors and suppliers a unified voice.’ They are organizing, and so we must, too!”

Defense contractors in Wisconsin have been producing some of the vehicles that are transporting murderous Zionists across Palestine and surveil the Gaza/Israel border. Alan Chavoya, Outreach Chair of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, spoke to the connections between the Mexico/U.S. and Gaza/Israel border. Chavoya stated, “The ruling class loves to divide us with borders, so it’s up to us to tear down those walls and unify our movements. When I saw the people of Gaza tear down that wall, I knew that so will the Chicanos, the people of Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa tear down the walls that imperialists built on our homelands!”

The movement for Palestine remains steadfast in Milwaukee. The WCJP has multiple actions planned for the upcoming week. As the genocide intensifies, so too will the movement for Palestine.

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