Anaheim, CA – On June 22, over 50 community members and activists gathered at Twila Reid Park for a vigil honoring Palestinian martyrs who have been killed during the ongoing genocide. The vigil was organized by the Palestinian American Women’s Association.

The vigil was one of Orange County’s many actions highlighting Israel’s genocide campaign in Gaza that has killed at least 40,000 people. The vigil started with an all-Palestinian children’s choir that sang Mawtini, the Iraq national anthem. This was followed up with the chants, “We want justice, you say how? End the siege on Gaza now!” and “Genocide Joe, what do you say? How many kids did you kill today?”

A member of PAWA SoCal spoke to the displacement and suffering of Palestinians at the hands of Israel, “For decades Palestinian families have faced unimaginable hardships, forced from their homes time and again now at an exponentially higher scale. Death and starvation loom at every corner in Gaza. Israel has pushed 80% of Gaza’s inhabitants into the cruel limbo of displacement, forcing them to become refugees again.”

The vigil continued with speakers demanding an end to U.S. aid to Israel. “We must continue to pressure the U.S. government who provides the bombs, munitions, intelligence and precision technologies that subjugate our people and attempt to quell the resistance. Elected officials continue signing off on billions of dollars in weapons reaching the Zionist entity.” said a speaker from Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Irvine.

A Community Service Organization Orange County (CSO OC) member drew the connection between the Israeli Defense Forces and U.S. police department, stating, “We are aware that the anti-defamation league or ADL has trained many law enforcement agencies within southern California including the Los Angeles Police Department, Orange County Sheriff's Department, and Santa Ana Police Department. At CSO OC we are currently working on police accountability and community control of the police in Santa Ana.”

The vigil ended with a closing performance by the Mawtini choir and writing notes on a candlelit altar commemorating the lives of brave Palestinian martyrs. The vigil included members of Students for Justice in Palestine, Black Lives Matter, CSO OC, SAWA SoCal, Memorial for Freedom and Democracy in Palestine, Palestinian Youth Movement, U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Al-Awada, Palestine Foundation, Arab American Civil Council, and others.

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Anaheim, CA – “You join the heroes who stood up and said, ‘War? Not in our name! Death? Not in our name! Money toward genocide? Not in our name!’” declared Kareem Youssef, member of the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), to a crowd of over 20 protesters in front of a Super King Market on March 3.

The action was part of the larger “Boycott Sadaf” campaign, whose goal is to remove Sadaf Food products from grocery stores. Sadaf Foods is a Zionist company that sources its products in occupied Palestine and tries to normalize the state of Israel.

Activists took the parking lot chanting, “Super King, hear our voice! Zionist food is not a choice!” and “Not another nickel, not another dime! No more money for Israel’s crimes!”

They were confronted by security guards who tried to intimidate them into moving out of the parking lot, but Youssef and others asserted their right to protest Super King market for shelving Sadaf Food products. As seven police SUVs and one motorcycle officer poured into the lot, another organizer from USPCN said he had spoken with the manager of Super King before staging this action, and the manager sent him to customer service. “How ridiculous! They want us to go through a bureaucracy when we tell them to stop funding genocide, when we tell them that you’re profiting off of the stolen food while our people are starving in Gaza, while children are starving! And instead, they call the cops on us. Shame on Super King! Shame on Sadaf! Boycott Sadaf!”

Diana Terreros, member of Community Service Organization Orange County (CSO OC) and Freedom Road Socialist Organization, stated that “CSO stands in unequivocal solidarity with the Palestinian resistance against the occupation of Israel, who is committing a genocide and has been dispossessing Palestinians for 75 years.” She also spoke on the recent victory of the Boycott Sadaf campaign in Garden Grove, where an action forced Harvest Fresh market to deshelve its Sadaf products just 30 minutes into the rally. Terreros stated, “We will keep fighting against these Zionist corporations! Our struggles as Chicanos and Palestinians may be different, but we are united against the common enemy of U.S. imperialism, and together we can win.”

Even as the police tried to violate protesters’ First Amendment rights, activists urged customers to boycott Super King until the manager made a contractual agreement to deshelve its Sadaf Food products. Some customers even joined the ranks of activists, taking up signs and shouting back at police and security. The police were forced to stand and watch.

Palestinian flags waved in the lot as Youssef closed the boycott action by warning, “We will be checking on different stores seeking Sadaf across Southern California until every single one of these Southern California stores removes Sadaf Foods from their shelves! Because this is what we can do to make an impact and to address Zionism ourselves, and show them that people power, just us, is enough to cost Sadaf millions!”

The boycott was organized by USPCN, and it included activists from Free Democratic Movement for Palestine, Al-Awda: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, the Palestinian American Women’s Association, Community Service Organization Orange County, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO).

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