Milwaukee, WI – On September 25, roughly 100 people gathered to demand an end to the U.S.-funded attacks on Lebanon and Palestine and an arms embargo on Israel. Protesters gathered at City Hall Square as a rally began at around 5 p.m. The rally, led by the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee and cosponsored by ten other local, national, and international organizations, had ten speakers, who connected the resistance in the Middle East to U.S. imperialism and the way it impacts us all.

After the initial gathering and speeches, the group marched and chanted down Kilbourne Avenue to Juneau Park. The target of the protest was the Raytheon board member George Oliver, who lives in a condominium tower across from the park. The march was met with enthusiasm, honks and shouts of “Free Palestine!” by onlookers. The entire event was recorded by WISN 12 News and followed by reporter Erika Finke.

At Juneau Park, the protesters called out George Oliver for his part in the ongoing genocide in Palestine and the terrorist attacks in Lebanon.

“Israel is not targeting military bases or combatants. They are bombing apartments, homes and schools,” said Hayley Thomson, outreach chair for the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee.

Brian Verdin, of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, spoke about the similarities between propaganda against Vietnam and how the media covers the genocide and terrorist attacks by Israel today. The link between state violence at home and U.S. imperialism abroad was further highlighted with a reading of Marcellus Williams’ poem The Perplexing Smiles of the Children of Palestine, only days after his state-ordered death penalty for a crime he did not commit.

Protesters marched back to City Hall while chanting “Free, free Palestine!” and “Hands off Lebanon!” The event wrapped up with a speech by Kayla Patterson, of Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she said: “We will only double down in standing with the Palestinian resistance, the Lebanese resistance, and the Yemeni resistance. Hands off Lebanon!”

The Milwaukee Anti-war Committee will be marching as a member of the Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine on October 5, 2 p.m. at Zeidler Union Square, to answer the national call from the Anti-War Action Network to mark one year of genocide, and one year of resistance.

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