Thousands march for Palestine in Washington DC
Washington, D.C. – On Sunday, May 18, hundreds gathered at the north end of the Washington Monument to commemorate the 77th anniversary of the Nakba.
Al-Nakba, known in Arabic as “The Catastrophe,” began on May 14, 1948. The Zionist regime forced over 750,000 Palestinians from their land in a matter of months, displacing millions and beginning a reign of terror and dispossession of land for Palestinian people. With the assistance of the British, the Zionist regime massacred innocent Palestinians as it engaged in widespread theft of the land. Since then, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been killed, culminating in the current genocide in Gaza.
Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM-DMV) hosted the May 18 protest, capping off a week of actions commemorating the event.
The action brought out an inter-generational crowd, ranging from infants to elders, uniting their voices in power to demand the Palestinian right to return and a Free Palestine.
“In our millions and our billions, we are all Palestinian!” the crowd chanted in a call and response with the emcee between speakers.
“They don’t understand,” said Rafiki Morris, a storied muralist and member of the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party, “The power of this movement is when we all come together and act as one.”
“Our unity is our strength,” he continued, adding that the people’s power, “is the only thing we have, because the only thing left to throw at the system are our bodies.”
The action transitioned to a march to the Capitol. All along Pennsylvania Avenue protesters chanted, “The people united will never be defeated” and “Up! Up with liberation! Down! Down with occupation!”
The protest ended in front of the U.S. Capitol, as attendees were called to hold steadfast with the Palestinian people in their struggle to resist apartheid and occupation until liberation and return.