Dallas, TX – On July 3, over 50 people gathered at Belo Garden Park in downtown Dallas to protest the recent destruction of Silwan, a Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem, and the ongoing siege on Gaza by the Israeli apartheid state. The action was called by the Palestinian Youth Movement.

Chants at the rally included “Free! Free Palestine!”, “We don't want two states, we want 48!” and “Intifada! Intifada! Long live the Intifada!” Speeches were delivered by Nashwa Bawab of Palestinian Youth Movement and Fadya Risheq of American Muslims for Justice in Palestine. Nashwa Bawab of Palestinian Youth condemned the recent demolition of the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in East Jerusalem.

“Palestinians in Jerusalem have continued to face the threat of forcible evictions and home demolitions backed by the discriminatory legal and military systems of the Zionist state. Just this past week, Zionist military forces entered the Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan with bulldozers prepared to begin their demolition of Palestinian shops and homes. The Zionist state demanded Palestinians to demolish their own homes, threatening to otherwise demolish them themselves. Palestinians defending their homes and shops were met with violence by Israeli occupation forces who used rubber-coated steel bullets, fired tear gas, and brutally attacked protesters with batons in a violent effort to disperse protesters demonstrating against the theft of their homes and livelihoods,” stated Bawab.

Nashwa Bawab also condemned the Palestinian Authority for assisting Israeli apartheid forces in imprisoning Palestinian national liberation fighters. “We must reject the geographic and political fragmentation of our people that has been created through Oslo. We must reject security coordination with the Zionist entity. We must affirm our people’s right to democratically engage in our struggle and to voice our opposition against the current policies of the Palestinian Authority, which is a product of Oslo. We must reject political assassinations, imprisonment of Palestinian activists, and the violent crackdown against Palestinian protesters by the PA. The weapons of our people should be wielded against our enemy, and never against each other.”

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