Jacksonville, FL — Three dozen gathered in front of the Duval County Courthouse on August 11 in support of Palestine. The call for a protest came after reports began circulating on social media that Israel had bombed neighborhoods in the Gaza Strip on August 8. Israeli bombs targeted areas filled with Palestinian civilians and four were injured, one very seriously.

The emergency mobilization urged people to support the struggle for Palestinian liberation and an end to Zionist occupation. The crowd chanted,” From Ferguson to Palestine! Occupation is a crime!” and “Free! Free! Palestine!”

“We encourage folks to get involved with the first rally held by Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network. We offer space to make that possible,” said 19-year-old Sara Mahmoud, a local Palestine activist with Jacksonville Community Action Committee (JCAC).

Mahmoud explained, “Based on current estimates, Gaza will be unlivable as early as 2018, and as late as 2020. Palestinians have been resisting ethnic cleansing and genocide since 1948, 70 years in 2018. It is time for people to get strategized in fighting Zionism, a heinous form of settler-colonialism.”

Michael Sampson, also with JCAC, said, “It’s important for us in Jacksonville to stand in solidarity with our friends and comrades organizing for liberation in Palestine. The struggle for police accountability in Jacksonville, and the struggle to end Israeli Apartheid and liberate Palestine are all part of a larger movement for a more just world.”

Members of several groups attended the rally, including Students for Justice for Palestine at UNF, Students for a Democratic Society at UNF, Take ‘Em Down Jax, the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition, and the Jacksonville Community Action Committee (JCAC).

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