Michigan Arab American community rallies in support of Palestine
Dearborn, MI – On October 14, well over 2000 people took the streets of Dearborn, Michigan, marching despite the cold and heavy rain. After a week of near daily demonstrations in metro Detroit, the largest demonstration yet was organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement-Detroit, in collaboration with local chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine and others.
On October 7, after decades of oppression, and after months of sharp escalation by Israel, a coalition of Palestinian resistance groups broke through the walls of Gaza, often described as the world’s largest open-air prison. Gaza, Palestine is home to 2.3 million people, the most densely populated place in the world. The Palestinian resistance began an unprecedented campaign – known as Al-Aqsa Flood – of liberating stolen land, occupying military checkpoints, and capturing IDF military leadership.
In response to this highly asymmetrical campaign, Israel has blocked all movement of goods and people in or out of Gaza including food, water, fuel and medical supplies. This is a war crime as defined by the United Nations. Dearborn and Detroit join thousands of cities, and millions of the Palestinians around the world, demonstrating their support for Palestine during this historic time.
The rally began with speeches offering historical context about the occupation and the experiences of families living in occupied Palestine. One Arab American woman spoke adamantly, “If you are here for anything less than the absolute freedom of Palestinians and their rights, you are at the wrong protest! We are here for an end to the apartheid state of Israel and for every Palestinian to return to their homes, no compromise!”
There were isolated attempts by Zionist reactionaries to disrupt the event, but activists designated for security roles minimized their impact. The rally then set off on a mile-long march to a nearby high school where police attempted to block the march. Organizers directed the march to the open campus of the high school to regather its forces, then retook the streets in a mile long march back to where the event started.
Palestine Youth Movement (PYM) have a policy of non-cooperation with the police. PYM raises that the police enact the same violence in the U.S. to control land, resources and people as Zionist forces do in Palestine. During the march, many in the neighborhood came out of their houses to support the march, waving their own Palestinian flags, and some even joined the march.
There was a wide variety of chants, including “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”, and Intifada, intifada, long live the intifada!” Another chant translated from Arabic to English is “With soul! With blood! We will free you Al-Aqsa!”
PYM-Detroit organizer Irshad Reza said, “The goals of this demonstration were to show that Dearborn is aligned with Palestinian liberation, and we firmly believe that Palestinians have a right to resist and that the Zionist colonial occupation must end!”