Minneapolis: Palestine solidarity march on International Human Rights Day
Minneapolis, MN – On December 10, the MN Anti-War Committee (AWC) organized a rally and march of 2000 people on International Human Rights Day to draw attention to the U.S.-sponsored human rights abuses enacted by Israel on Palestinians. The AWC holds a protest every year to highlight the importance of International Human Rights Day.
December 10, 2023 marked the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly. This milestone document declares 30 inalienable rights that belong to all people universally, regardless of culture, political system, nationality, or religion. The declaration is the most translated document of all time. International Human Rights Day recognizes the significance of this major document and its place in social justice and civil rights movements. This year the AWC’s protest put the struggle of the Palestinian people who have endured over 75 years of colonization as the forefront of this annual event while tying the issue of Palestine to other social justice struggles at home.
Tracy Molm, a leader in the Climate Justice Committee, connected the work they are leading for clean air with the demand for a free Palestine, “Land Back is a call not only for the indigenous people of the U.S. to have control, or sovereignty, over their lands; it's a rallying cry for the Palestinian people. From Little Earth to Palestine the CJC calls for ‘Land Back!’ Palestinians have a right to return to their historic homelands just as the indigenous peoples of Turtle Island, North America have the right to say no to oil pipelines that poison their water and land, and to call for Smith Foundry and Bituminous Roadways to be shut down in East Phillips.”
Nicole Mason represented Camp Nenookaasi, a community-based healing camp in the East Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis. Mason said to the crowd, “We know that indigenous liberation is liberation for all of us. This is a fight for all life, for all futures. A free Palestine frees us all.” Through the support of Camp Nenookaasi, Perez noted “74 people have been housed, and zero people have died from overdose.”
Samantha Alsadi, a Palestinian American who recently joined the AWC, spoke about the importance of keeping up the level of Palestine solidarity events, “We must continue to protest, even though the cold winter months. We must demand our elected officials listen to us. They work for us. Not the other way around. We need to make it clear to them that they need to listen to us and that we do not want any more of our money to go to Israel. We want Minnesota to divest completely from Israel now! We want our money to go towards human needs like housing, healthcare, education – not human slaughter.”
Maysoon Wazwaz from the Minnesota chapter of American Muslims for Palestine closed out the rally at Powderhorn Park that afternoon, sharing how we all have a connection to Palestine through the youth. She reached out to the audience, saying, “My sister Sana grew up to be an activist, but Sana from Gaza, she’ll never get that chance. She’ll never get to be the princess of her dreams, so those of us in America we say their dreams. Those of us in the diaspora have the responsibility to share the human rights that they were deprived of. We will continue to speak for the Sanas of the world, whether it’s here in America, or here in Gaza.”
Other speakers at the event included Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Minnesota, Students for a Democratic Society, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar, Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, Climate Justice Committee, and the MN Abortion Action Committee.
After a program of speakers from many different struggles, the community began a march through the Powderhorn neighborhood, less than a mile away from where George Floyd was murdered. The crowd marched for over an hour through Lake Street in south Minneapolis. They held banners and signs that read slogans such as “Dive$t from genocide – human rights for all” and “No new occupation of Gaza” and chanted to the surrounding community and businesses. There were many honks from passing cars in solidarity, and even neighbors in their homes waving and holding up AWC signs from their windows.