Minneapolis, MN – On October 6, over 4000 protesters gathered in downtown Minneapolis on to mark one year of protest and resistance to Israel’s U.S. funded genocide in occupied Palestine. The Free Palestine Coalition started the march with a rally at the Gateway Park Fountain on the corner of Hennepin and Washington Avenues. Protesters marched through downtown and the North Loop neighborhood, proudly displaying support for Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iran, Iraq and all people caught in the crosshairs of Israel’s terror campaign.

Red and green smoke flares filled the air as the crowd marched, and onlookers came out of businesses and apartments to cheer on the protestors and show their support. Chants of “Fight fight fight! Resistance is a human right!” and “Lebanon make us proud, turn another tank around!” echoed off the walls of high rises. Protesters and opponents of Israel's U.S.-bankrolled murder spree held various signs, some notable ones reading, “Resisting genocide is not a crime” and “Arms embargo on Israel now!”

The action held a special significance not only because it took place one day shy of the anniversary of October 7, but also in the wake of Israel's recent escalations into Lebanon, notably terror attacks carried out via exploding pagers and walkie talkies which killed at least a dozen Lebanese civilians, including children, and left as many as 3000 injured. This was followed by an aerial bombing campaign, with one attack requiring U.S.-made bunker buster bombs to flatten six buildings in order to assassinate Hezbollah’s Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and finally a “special ground operation” in southern Lebanon, which has yet to yield the Israelis any material results other than dozens of dead soldiers.

The previous Tuesday, October 1, had also seen Tel Aviv come under fire from resistance missiles launched by Iran, presumably a retaliatory strike for Israel's assassination of Hamas’ top negotiator in ceasefire talks, Ismael Haniyeh, which took place in Tehran. These strikes caused significant damage to Israel's Nevatim air base, proving Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system to be egregiously more ineffective than Israel and Western media have attempted to lead people to believe.

Taher Herzallah of American Muslims for Palestine spoke to the crowd before the march, highlighting the theme of resistance that took precedence on the day. Speaking on opposition to the Israeli project he noted, “At the same time that we have witnessed an entire year of genocide, we have also witnessed an entire year of resistance. We have witnessed an entire year of courage and bravery like we have never witnessed before. Just like Minneapolis in 2020 sparked the global reckoning on race, in 2024 Minneapolis and the rest of the country has sparked a global reckoning on the United States’ relationship with this apartheid regime.”

Herzallah continued, “There are those around the world who think that they can act with impunity, to do whatever the hell they want and not face accountability, there are those who believe they can kill innocent people left and right, that they can blow up other countries, that they can take whatever steps necessary to ‘defend themselves’, but what we have seen the last year, is the people of the global South, the people of Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq, and the people of Gaza, have shown them that they will pay a price.”

Yossi Aharoni, a member of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee who was born in occupied Palestine also spoke at the march. Referencing the recent acts of desperation by the Israelis, Aharoni noted, “Iran recently conducted the largest military attack against Israel, unprecedented in its size, scope and success in history, rendering the Iron Dome useless. By all metrics both politically and military, Israel has lost the war, that is why we see it so desperately lashing out like a wounded animal caught in a bear trap; Israel knows the only way to continue is through a U.S. supported regional war. Israel’s successes lie only in the fact that now the vast majority of the world sees what we have known all along; the state of Israel is a terrorist state and the greatest threat to West Asia and world peace.”

Touching on the role of U.S. imperialism in Israel’s campaign, Aharoni later added, “Let us be clear, the problem is not a religious issue, nor is the problem Netanyahu, or Gallant, or Smotrich, or Gantz; the problem is Jewish supremacy, colonial occupation, apartheid; the problem is Zionism and its primary endorser, U.S. imperialism. The Black, indigenous, Chicano and LGBTQ movements support Palestine, not only because they recognize the moral travesty at hand, but because they know, like the Palestinians, their success hinges on the destruction of U.S. imperialism.”

The march wound its way through the streets of downtown Minneapolis, ending up back where it began two hours before at the Gateway Park fountain. There, Sanaa Wazwaz from American Muslims for Palestine told the crowd, “The Israeli occupation, it’s not a system – it’s a time, and that time is coming to an end in our lifetime. That time is coming to an end when we know 52% of Americans, including one-third of Republicans want an arms embargo on Israel.”

Many pro-Palestine voters have expressed a willingness to sit out this year's presidential race as a show of solidarity with Palestinians.

As the final chants of the afternoon rang out, a brisk autumn wind blew across the crowd and the message of the day had been made clear. With the calendar turning on one year of genocide since the October 7 resistance uprising, and Israel’s tactics only becoming more desperate and widespread into West Asia, the people of Minnesota made it clear that they’re in it for the long haul, meaning for as long it takes – until Minnesota divests its holdings in apartheid Israel, and until Palestine is free.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #Lebanon #MNAWC #AMP