Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Over fifty people protested U.S. backed Israeli violence on July 6 at the U.S. Federal Building in downtown Ft. Lauderdale. The Israeli government is using airstrikes and the army to attack Palestinians. In tandem, Israeli settlers kidnapped, tortured, and burned to death a teenager. Then an Israeli police intelligence unit was caught on video, brutally beating a fifteen-year-old boy from Tampa, Florida.

In Fort Lauderdale, families with children waved Palestinian flags and held signs reading “Justice for Palestine” “One state is the only solution” and “Free Palestine.” The protest was held in support of justice and liberation for Palestinians. Leaders called on the U.S. government to stop supporting Israeli aggression and human rights violations. The U.S. government sends Israel $3.1 billion annually in aid, much of it military aid. The United States has spent $121 billion on Israel since it seized Palestinian lands and stole Palestinian people’s houses, businesses, and farms.

Members of Al-Awda South Florida, Students for Justice in Palestine – FAU, Broward Green Party, People’s Opposition to War, Imperialism, and Racism (POWIR), Dream Defenders, and religious leaders participated. Cars driving by honked in solidarity as the protestors chanted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” and “Gaza, Gaza don’t you cry, Palestine will never die.”

The death toll of Palestinians continues to rise, the occupation of Palestinian land by armed Israeli settlers expands, and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians continues. Anas Amireh, an organizer with Al-Awda South Florida, highlighted the sad story of two cousins. Tariq Abu Khdeir is a fifteen-year-old Palestinian-American from Tampa. He was beaten and arrested by masked Israeli police last week. He is now under house-arrest. Sadly, his sixteen-year-old cousin, Muhammad Abu Khdeir, was found dead on Wednesday, tortured, stabbed, then burned to death and dumped in a forest.

These brutal actions by armed Israeli settlers, some of them teenagers with automatic weapons, is propelling cities across the country to hold protests in solidarity with these two teenage boys. Solidarity activists are demanding the U.S. government stop funding Israel and calling for an end to the anti-democratic Israeli Apartheid system. The south Florida protest also called on U.S. corporate media to stop their biased reporting.

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