Hundreds at Tampa City Hall for pro-Palestine press conference
Tampa, FL – In a scene echoed throughout the world October 13, hundreds of community members came out in support of Palestine and the people of Gaza. A press conference was held in front of Tampa City Hall in response to a call from the Palestinian resistance to stand in solidarity. Leaders of a diverse array of groups spoke about the ongoing genocide in Gaza, as electricity, food, aid and internet have been cut off in preparation for a ground invasion.
Protesters also wanted to condemn law enforcement for their unequal treatment of Zionist and Palestinian protesters. Last Sunday, Tampa police protected Zionist reactionaries who showed up to harass pro-Palestine activists. The press conference was intended to call out the complicity and backing of the U.S. government in this ongoing process of genocide, and to demand an end to U.S. aid to Israel.
Describing the carnage going on in Gaza, speaker Leali Shalabi, with Resistance of Tampa Bay, said, “40% of the region is rubble; 1500 Palestinians have died.”
Aida Mackic, one of the organizers explained that, in Gaza, “19 health centers have been impacted, 20 ambulances have been destroyed, 48 schools were destroyed.”
Speaking about the connection between Tampa law enforcement and Israeli oppression, Lama Alhasan of Dream Defenders said, “Police are trained with the same tactics of police brutality used by Occupying forces, that’s why Black activists have rightfully connected the Palestinian struggle to the struggle for Black liberation here in the U.S.”
Laura Rodriguez, member of Tampa Bay Community Action Committee and one of the Tampa 5, also spoke about the connection that Palestinians experience and the oppression that Puerto Ricans experience, as victims of U.S. imperialism.
Joseph Nohava, of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), summed up his speech by quoting famed Palestinian revolutionary Leila Khaled, “The supreme objective of the Palestinian liberation movement is the total liberation of Palestine, the dismantlement of the Zionist state apparatus, and the construction of a socialist society in which both Arabs and Jews can live in peace and harmony!” Nohava said that the FRSO would continue standing with Palestinians until that day.
After the press conference, the community marched through downtown Tampa to Joe Chillura Courthouse Square, shouting “It is right to rebel, Israel go to hell!” and “Israel you can’t hide, you’re committing genocide!”
The press conference was organized by the Dream Defenders and the Council on American Islamic Relations of Florida, Tampa Bay Community Action Committee, 200 Muslim Women Who Care, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Muslims for Democracy and Fairness, and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.