Washington DC protest marks 3 years of genocide by Israel and U.S.
Washington, DC – On Wednesday, October 7, the third anniversary of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people, activists and community members from across the DMV (DC-Maryland-Virginia) area gathered outside the White House to protest the genocide and stand with the Palestinian people.
The event was organized by the Anti-War Committee DMV, who brought a four-foot-tall effigy bearing the face of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Attendees were encouraged to attack the effigy, with organizers providing sticks to beat it with.
“We want justice, we want peace! Stop bombing the Middle East!” one organizer shouted, as children threw shoes at the effigy.
Ermiya Fanaeian, a leader in the Anti-War Committee DMV, said, “It’s been three years since the escalation of the genocide, but the genocide did not start three years ago. It started in the 1940s, when the U.S. first decided to stick its imperialist fangs into the Middle East.”
Also speaking on behalf of the Anti-War Committee DMV, Katie Sayour pointed out the deep connections between tech giant Palantir and the U.S. military industrial complex.
“It was Palantir's Maeven system that targeted the girl's school in Iran, and their systems that helped the U.S. kidnap President Maduro in Venezuela,” said Sayour, “Palantir's surveillance technology is used by the IDF, tested on Palestinians, and then brought home to spy on us. And the government is using our tax dollars to do it! That's why we say: No more! Palantir out!”
The action rounded out with a speech from Iain McNeely, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. “I am proud to be a member of Freedom Road,” McNeely said. “We’ve been standing with Palestine – not for three years, not for ten, but for decades. We stand firmly with the people of Palestine, and all the world’s oppressed peoples, and proudly say Victory to the Palestinian resistance!”
McNeely closed his speech with an appeal to join the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, “We say that anyone who wants revolution, socialism and liberation should join us, and join the fight against U.S. imperialism!”