Dallas protest against Israeli attacks on Al-Aqsa
Dallas, TX – On Saturday, April 8, over 150 members of the Palestinian diaspora and allies gathered at The Grassy Knoll at Dealey Plaza to protest the recent Israeli attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam and the attacks came during the height of Ramadan. Israeli forces have killed more than 90 Palestinians so far this year.
Speakers at the rally called for the end of U.S. financial support for Israel and an end to Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank. They chanted, “Not another penny, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes!” Other chants included, “There is only one solution. Intifada! Revolution!” and “We don’t want two states, we want ‘48!” This last chant was a reference to the year 1948 when Israeli forces expelled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Palestine, in an incident called the Nakba.
The rally was called by the Palestine Youth Movement and supported by other organizations including the Dallas Anti-War Committee; the Southern Methodist University chapter of Palestinian Solidarity Committee; the University of Texas at Dallas chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America; and UTD Students for Justice in Palestine.
Speakers included Cassandra Swart, a spokeswoman for the Dallas Anti-War Committee. Swart denounced the attacks by Israel and the United States’ involvement and support of these actions and attacks. “Palestinians have a right to self-defense to protect their land, their livelihood and their homes. That is not ‘terrorism,’” Swart said. “Terrorism is the continued ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians off the land they have lived in for thousands of years.”