San Jose holds protest demands an end to the siege on Gaza
San Jose, CA – On Sunday, August 10, around 100 people gathered at the Federal Building in San Jose to demand an end to the siege on Gaza. The cutoff of aid going into Gaza has led to a man-made stage 5 famine which will lead to more deaths and irreversible damage to the people of Gaza.
The banging of pots along with chants such as, “Stop starving Gaza,” “Money for jobs and education, not for bombs and starvation” and “End the siege on Gaza now!” resonated throughout the streets of downtown San Jose.
They held signs depicting starving children in Gaza with phrases such as, “Open Rafah Crossing now”, “Abolish the U.S.-led GHF mercenary front”, and “End U.S. aid to Israel.”
Andy Schaefer, member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, brought attention to the state of Israel nearing collapse as they continue oppress Palestinians in Gaza as he said, “The cracks are becoming more apparent. The war profiteers and the Zionists know only how to dehumanize. This way of survival is unsustainable.”
Schaefer continued, noting that Netanyahu is now ordering the occupation forces to expand the war and reoccupy the entire strip saying, “These are desperate flailings of a beast with no options. The ruling class knows it is cornered!”
Donna Wallach, member of San Jose Against War stated, “Mass atrocities are happening every day in Gaza and the West Bank! What’s worse is that our tax dollars pay for all of it.”
Wallach continued pointing to the criminal underinvestment in housing and healthcare locally.
Nassim Nouri of the Santa Clara County Green Party said, “After 22 months of genocide, Israel is now blocking food and aid and is murdering starving civilians who are coming to aid centers.”
Nouri continued, “We must reclaim our power. We demand accountability and we must build the BDS movement!”
Uriel Magdaleno from San Jose Community Service Organization highlighted the shared challenges of the immigrants’ rights movement and the Palestine solidarity movement saying, “Our struggles our intertwined. Resisting ICE attacks anywhere helps all immigrants anywhere from Palestine to Mexico!”
Ethan Maruyama, member of Students for a Democratic Society at San Jose State University said, “Over the past 673 days, we the students witnessed the genocide unfold in Gaza. While Israel drops bombs on civilians, San Jose State sends its students to work for Lockheed Martin to manufacture those very bombs!”
The program continued with a march through downtown and ending at San Jose City Hall. This mobilization was organized by San Jose Against War as part of the Anti-War Action Network’s week of action to protest Israel’s manufactured famine in Gaza.