Colorado Springs vigil honors Palestinian martyrs
Colorado Springs, CO – On March 23, the Colorado Springs People’s Coalition gathered at Grant Park in Colorado Springs to honor the 32,000 Palestinians murdered by Israel in the assault on Gaza.
40 people of all ages came together to grieve and commemorate the martyrs and their sacrifice for the cause of Palestinian freedom. Many local members of the Palestinian and Muslim communities participated, as did City Council Member Nancy Henjum.
There were speeches, poems and stories that spoke to resistance, martyrdom, art and artists, and the Palestinian experience. “When I think of resistance, I think of transformation. When I think of transformation, I think of artists,” said Ariella Lynne of the Colorado Springs People’s Coalition (CSPC). She then shared the works of Palestinian artists Sliman Mansour and Menna Hamouda.
CSPC member Nyx Archuletta-Henderson told of their family’s own history – how their great-great-grandmother survived the horrors of what is known as The Long Walk, and how our “resistances here are interconnected at so many points with the Palestinian resistance.” They encouraged attendees to, “Hold them close to your heart as we continue to fight tomorrow so that one day when Palestine is free – and it will be – we can then send the spirits we carry now back home to Palestine.”
CSPC members recited poems by Palestinian poets Noor Hindi and Hiba Abu Nada. Breanna Boynton of CSPC spoke of grief and how it relates to resistance, reminding everyone present, “Guilt, grief, anger, despair, are all vital tools in our struggle to be free. Let us use them, honor them, and share them with one another.”
Vigil attendees also participated in a three-minute moment of silence for the martyrs. They acknowledged and honored the individual lives taken, by writing the names of those killed by the U.S. and Israel on a large piece of paper. The solemn, reflective event closed with a special prayer.
After the vigil, several individuals and families remained at Grant Park to connect and socialize. CSPC thanked everyone involved for their contributions to the action, as well as all those who gathered in community in honor of the Palestinian martyrs.
To learn more about CSPC, Colorado Springs, go to cspeoplescoalition.org, and follow them on Facebook and Instagram at cospeoplescoalition