Milwaukee holds emergency ‘Hands Off the West Bank’ Palestine rally
Milwaukee, WI – On Tuesday, July 29, the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee held an Emergency Hands Off the West Bank protest condemning the Israeli parliament for its symbolic vote to illegally annex the West Bank. This vote was indicative of the escalation of Israeli aggression and expansion, and another step on their nearly century-long genocidal mission of theft of Palestinian land.
Around 60 people gathered to protest the decision, where people held signs and waved Palestinian flags along the street, garnering supportive honks from passing vehicles. Protesters rallied, shouting, “Hands off the West Bank!” and “Gaza must have food and water! Israel, stop the slaughter!”
Speeches then began with representatives from Freedom Road Socialist Organization, US Palestinian Community Network, Milwaukee Anti-war Committee, Students for Justice in Palestine, Peace Action of Wisconsin and Code Pink. Speakers debounced Israel’s actions as a desperate attempt to maintain control of Palestine.
“They’re lashing out because the world is isolating them,” said Alan Chavoya from Freedom Road Socialist Organization. “They’re in the dying moments of the Zionist project.”
Speakers also linked the decision to annex the West Bank to Israel’s ongoing manufactured starvation of Palestinians in Gaza. Emily Harris from the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee condemned Israel’s heinous tactic of trapping and killing Palestinians at aid sites, stating, “They are death traps and they are a charade to hide Israel and the U.S.’s blatant efforts at exterminating the Palestinian population.”
Despite Israel’s attempts to tighten its grip on Palestine, this recent escalation has drawn even more people to the Palestinian cause. Stephanie Connors from Code Pink remarked in the closing speech, “The Palestinian people, through their fierce and steadfast resistance in the West Bank and Gaza, have undeniably exposed Israel for the colonial apartheid power that it is.”
The demands of the protest were clear. Sabine Wolter of Peace Action said. “All of this is done with our tax dollars and with the political support of our politicians. We demand an immediate end to all U.S. military aid to Israel and immediate humanitarian aid for Gaza to end the famine.”