Portland, OR - Over 100 people gathered Portland’s Sewallcrest Park on October 7 to protest one year of escalated genocide in Palestine. The date is marked the one year anniversary of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, an operation carried out by Palestinian resistance groups that targeted Israeli military bases just outside of the Gaza strip; a historic display of resistance against the, at the time, 75-year occupation of Palestine. The event was organized by Portland for Palestine.

Signs around the rally read “Stop arming Israel,” “Fund schools not genocide,” “End the occupation” and “Nothing justifies genocide.” 

The rally began with a speech from Mutaz Al-Shawa, a member of Portland for Palestine with direct ties to Gaza, who stated, “this has been going not just for a year, but for over 100 years.” He encouraged the crowd to action, “being quiet and sitting in the back saying ‘oh, I’m sorry,’ this doesn’t help, we have to stand and fight!” 

Speakers for the evening’s program also included members from Resist U.S. Led War PDX, People Organizing for Philippine Solidarity (POPS) and Freedom Road Socialist Organization PDX (FRSO).

 The rally turned into a march down Hawthorne Boulevard, taking up half the street and blocking one-way traffic. During the march, chants such as “We rise up, we mobilize, no more funding genocide!” “We want justice, you say how? Stop bombing Gaza now!” and “Resistance is justified, when people are occupied!” echoed from the crowd and were heard by drivers, shoppers and those dining and sitting outside.

Many people came out of shops and restaurants to observe the march, some recording on their phones and raising their fists in solidarity; cars rolled by and honked and waved their hands out of windows. As the march turned down a residential street to make its way back up the main road, a few people came out of their houses and joined in on chants from their doorsteps. 

Local Oregon news station, KOIN Channel 6, was on the scene to document both the rally and march. The event was featured on the 11 o’clock news that evening. During the segment, the coverage of the protest was juxtaposed by Oregon Senator and AIPAC poster child Ron Wyden’s reassertion that “Israel has a right to defend itself,” a statement he made at a meeting earlier that day. 

The march wrapped up after about one mile back at the park from which it started, with the crowd in unison chanting “Palestine will live forever!”

Kacey Desantis ended the day's events with some closing remarks. “The fight for Palestinian liberation is the fight for liberation of all oppressed people! Going forward, the fight for collective liberation will be hard won by all of us working together. When we dare to struggle, we dare to win!”

When asked about what they thought about the night’s event, Holly Brown stated, “Tonight showed me that the people stand with Palestine. We will continue to show up, march in the streets and demand an end of U.S. aid to Israel, for as long as it takes.” 

Portland for Palestine affirms their commitment to the struggle for Palestinian liberation for as long as Palestine is under occupation. They continue to demand an end of all U.S. aid to Israel in all forms and aim to target the different ways Portland, Oregon is complicit with the Zionist occupation.

#PortlandOR #FreePalestine #PortlandForPalestine #AlAqsaFlood

Appleton, WI – On October 25, Appleton Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) participated in the National Walk Out for Palestine and held a rally in support of the Palestinian resistance and to protest Lawrence University’s refusal to divest and condemn the apartheid state of Israel. Appleton SDS was joined by Lawrence University’s Young Democratic Socialists of America (YSDA) as well as close to 100 other students and multiple members of the faculty. 

On October 13, Appleton SDS attempted to hang a banner condemning the United States’ role in funding Palestinian genocide in the university’s Warch Campus center. Campus security promptly forced Appleton SDS to take the banner down at the behest of the Lawrence administration.

The following Monday, October 16, Appleton SDS officially requested permission to hang the banner. Despite following Lawrence University’s exact instructions, Vice President for Student Life Chris Clarke still said no. In the final hours leading up to the walkout, Lawrence administration sent two emails attempting to intimidate the student body into not participating. They laughably told students to “take deep breaths and take in the natural beauty of the season” in lieu of joining the walkout. The students of Lawrence were not swayed and defied administration, walking out anyway,

 At the rally, speaker and SDS member Audari Tamayo called out Clarke’s refusal to take a stance, saying, “To choose neutrality in the wake of an open declaration of genocide is to be complicit. This should come as no surprise: when asked whether he would condemn apartheid South Africa, Chris Clarke refused to answer. These are the types at the helm of our university – this cannot go on!”

“It is irresponsible of LU admin to not condemn the actions of the Israeli government while profiting from and occupying stolen land,” said Bailey Nez, a second-year student at LU.

To further call out the administration’s posturing, SDS member Caroline Murray said, “Lawrence University cannot claim to be an ‘anti-racist campus’ [as they so often do] if they refuse to condemn, boycott, and divest in the settler-colonial state of Israel. They’re just virtue signaling. The students of Lawrence University demand an end to United States aid to Israel; the students of Lawrence University demand LU administration support Palestinian liberation.”

To force the administration to listen to the demands, the student body marched to University President Laurie Carter’s office while chanting “LU admin – you’re on notice for political repression and sitting on your ass.” The students were calling out the cowardice and inaction of Lawrence's administration, as well as the attempted suppression of the student walkout.

Appleton SDS will continue to fight for Palestine’s right to independence. Despite attempting to intimidate the protesters with the excessive presence of campus security and administration at the rally, the students vastly outnumbered and overwhelmed them. Whether LU administration likes it or not, the Lawrence student body and many faculty members stand with Palestine and are opposed to the U.S.-funded occupation. The students will not concede until LU administration agrees to the demands to join the movement to boycott, divest, and sanction Israel. The students of Lawrence say no U.S. aid to Israel and long live the Palestinian resistance!

#AppletonWI #FreePalestine #AlAqsaFlood #SDS #LawrenceUniversity

By Sadie Carlson and Tavyan Dorsey

Tallahassee, FL – On October 18, more than 350 community members and students protested at Cascades Park, marking the second demonstration for Palestine’s liberation in Florida’s capital city since the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7.

The rally began with chants of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” led by the event’s emcee and member of Tallahassee Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Elijah Ruby. In his opening speech, Ruby stated, “We are witnessing a holocaust in our lifetime of the Palestinian people.” He condemned Tallahassee city commissioners and FSU President Richard McCullough for not taking a stand for human rights.

The protest was led by the Freedom Road Socialist Organization in coalition with the Tallahassee Community Action Committee, Tallahassee Food Not Bombs, FSU Students for a Democratic Society, and FSU Students for Justice in Palestine.

Regina Joseph, communications director of the Tallahassee Community Action Committee, connected the oppression of queer people, undocumented immigrants, and Black people in the U.S. to the oppression of Palestinians. Calling back to the George Floyd uprisings of 2020, she addressed that many of the police who brutalized anti-racist protesters were trained by the Israeli “Defense” Force (IDF).

“The same police officers that oppress Black people are the same police that are trained by the IDF. We cannot be free until all of us are free,” Joseph declared to the crowd.

Later in the evening, Ahmad Daraldik spoke from experience as a Palestinian who has lived under Israeli apartheid. During his tenure as president of the FSU Student Senate, Daraldik was harassed by state representatives and later removed from his position for speaking on these issues. In his speech, Daraldik stressed the urgency of the situation, stating that Israel is using “its occupational forces to destroy, erase and eradicate communities,” and “there is no more time to stand and watch, you must act!” Daraldik demanded that the U.S. end financial and military aid to the genocide of Palestinians by the Zionist entity known as Israel. Daraldik then led the crowd of hundreds in a moment of silence, as they knelt in honor of the Palestinian martyrs whose lives have been stolen.

Palestinians have been forcibly removed from their homes and driven to relocate to the Gaza Strip, which is often referred to as the world’s largest open-air prison, as 2.2 million people live within 140 square miles under horrific conditions. Through the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation, Palestine is fighting back against this oppression and for the liberation of its people.

Israel and its allies in western Europe and North America have retaliated with genocidal rhetoric and actions. The Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant referred to Palestinians as “human animals” in his statement announcing the shut-off of food, fuel and electricity to the Gaza Strip. On October 17, the Israeli occupation forces launched a missile at a Gazan hospital, killing at least 500 patients and medical workers.

The president of FSU SDS, Joelle Nuñez, decried the lack of empathy for Palestinians by the university administration stating, “It’s shameful the way the media has dehumanized Palestinians. At FSU we are seeing the same rhetoric. Richard McCullough, president of FSU, sent a letter to the student body expressing his deepest condolences for Israelis but didn’t say a single word about the hundreds of children murdered by the state of Israel. There are eight or ten Zionist organizations at FSU and we are the only ones standing up for Palestine. At a vigil for Israel held on campus, speakers called Palestinians ‘barbarians.’ It is shameful that FSU chooses to celebrate the IDF yet dehumanizes Palestinians.”

Nuñez later expressed her confidence in the Palestinian freedom fighters, stating, “I believe that I will see a complete Palestinian victory in my lifetime!”

After the official speakers addressed the crowd, FRSO invited community members to share their stories and express their thoughts. Under candlelight, several Palestinians gave heart-wrenching accounts of their experiences, including one child, who highlighted the one-sided nature of the attacks against Gaza. “Some people say that we are starting the fight, but actually they are.”

Attendees of all ages and backgrounds chanted, waved flags and stood in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance.

#TallahasseeFL #Palestine #TCAC #SDS #FRSO #AlAqsaFlood #Gaza

New York, NY - On October 18, over 100 activists and community members, representing nearly 20 different grassroots community organizations, packed The People’s Forum in Manhattan for an evening of solidarity and resistance. The event, titled “Defend People’s Struggle: A Conversation on State Repression,” kicked off the East Coast leg of the Justice for the Tampa 5 speaking tour. It centered activists who have been directly targeted for arrest and trumped up charges as part of the increased state repression facing organizers.

The speakers represented organizations from all corners of the movement. In addition to Laura Roriguez of the Tampa 5, the evening’s program speakers also included: Marte White, from Community Movement Builders in Atlanta, Georgia and the fight to stop Cop City; a speaker from NYC-based organization For Our Liberation; Nina Macapinlac from BAYAN USA; a speaker from New York Boricua Resistance; a speaker from the Haitian diaspora organization Rasanbleman Pou Ayiti, and Kaleem Hawa from the Palestinian Youth Movement.

All speakers were united in a clear message: We must defend people’s struggles. Only through steadfast solidarity can we protect ourselves and our movements. The only way to move forward is to fight back.

Laura Rodriguez of the Tampa 5, a group of five Florida students and activists facing felony charges for defending diversity on campus, stated, “Because of organizing, because we are in an organization, and because of the support we’ve gotten nationally, we were able to expedite our release from jail,” she said in her speech. She ended on an optimistic note on the power of organizing and solidarity: “Because of the organizing that we will do on the speaking tour, that we have done, and because of everyone here today, I know for a fact that the charges will be dropped.”

Another key point of the evening was raised by Marte White, a transfeminine organizer involved in the struggle against Cop City in Atlanta. They spoke about the importance of combating lies spread by the enemy, citing the disinformation spread by the Atlanta police in the wake of their murder of environmental activists Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán last March. This point was echoed by Allendy of Rasanbleman Pou Ayiti and Kaleem Hawa of the Palestinian Youth Movement. 

The Rasanbleman Pou Ayiti spoke of the UN Security Council’s decision to authorize the tenth invasion of Haiti in the past 30 years under the pretext of combatting “gang violence,” when it is really an attempt to access cheap labor, land and resources in Haiti. “Whenever the UN Security Council is about to vote on what to do in Haiti, gang violence rises,” he said. “So we can tell clearly, this is to repress the Haitian people whenever they want to mobilize and fight for their sovereignty. We can’t rely on this system, we can’t rely on the mass media, who have shown us time and time again that our independence, our sovereignty, and our liberation mean nothing to them.”

Hawa put it more bluntly: “Do not share the enemy’s propaganda. It’s a very difficult time. We don’t need to give them attention, and we can’t let ourselves be distracted.”

As the final speaker of the event, Hawa delivered a powerful analysis of the current, historic moment in the struggle for Palestinian Liberation. He emphasized the importance of contextualizing current events in the long history of Zionist attempts to exterminate the Palestinian people and inflict maximum human suffering in Gaza. “They are doing this because Gaza is the heart of Palestinian resistance and always has been,” he reminded the audience, “and they need a genocidal solution to the resistance from Gaza.”

Speaking of the political repression faced by Palestinians - within Palestine, and in the near and far diasporas, including New York City, Hawa stated, “Zionism is borderless, and its intention is to eliminate the political Palestinian life.” However, he continued, “The Palestinian armed resistance has shown the world that Israel is as weak as spider web.”

The evening concluded with rousing chants of “Free Palestine!” and calls to action from the organizations participating. In particular, all speakers stressed the importance of joining organizations and standing in solidarity with each other in the ongoing struggle. As Rodriguez put it when speaking to student organizers in the audience: “We must not only defend but continue to push higher. We’re working to create something that’s never been seen before, to create actual power across all of the movements, because only we can lift us up out of this.”

#NewYorkCityNY #Tampa5 #FreePalestine #Gaza #AlAqsaFlood #PYM #PoliticalRepression #StopCopCity

Austin, TX – On Sunday, October 15, over 2000 Austinites rallied in solidarity with the people of Palestine in front of the Texas Capitol building.

The rally, called by Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC), also featured speakers from the Native American and Indigenous Collective (NAIC), Malaya Movement Texas, and Jewish Voice for Peace.

Starting at 3 p.m., hundreds of Palestinian Americans, local religious groups and community members gathered at the front gate of the capitol as members of the NAIC performed the Danza Ollinyollotl. As the crowd formed, spilling over onto Congress Avenue, PSC led the rally in chants of “Gaza, Gaza, don't you cry, Palestine will never die” and “When people are occupied, resistance is justified!”

A speaker from Malaya Movement Texas emphasized the spirit of solidarity permeating the rally, saying that the attack by Hamas comes after a decades-long campaign to ethnically cleanse Palestinians, as shown clearly by the bombings on Gaza in the past week.

After the rally, the crowd turned towards the Colorado River and marched a mile south to Cesar Chavez Street, looping back to the capitol's front. While walking beneath dozens of Palestinian flags, the marchers chanted “Hey, hey, ho, ho, the occupation has to go” and “One, two, three four – occupation no more! Five, six, seven, eight – Israel is a racist state.”

Returning to the Capitol, the rally joined together in one last series of chants before ending. After the rally, a hundred supporters prayed on the capitol lawn.

#AustinTX #FreePalestine #AlAqsaFlood #Malaya #PSC #JewishVoiceforPeace

Dallas, TX – Approximately 3000 people marched through the streets of downtown Dallas n Sunday, October 15, chanting, “Free Palestine!” and “End the siege on Gaza now!” These are the largest protests Dallas has seen since the George Floyd marches in the summer of 2020.

The march was coordinated by local Palestinian organizations, including the Palestinian Youth Movement Dallas Chapter. The protest is a response to the deadly siege and bombardment of Gaza by the U.S.-backed Israeli military, with over 2300 Palestinians killed since the current attacks on Gaza began.

The march began and ended at the Dallas City Hall in opposition to the city council resolution of “unequivocal support of Israel” passed earlier in the week. Speakers denounced the resolution as thousands of attendees filled the City Hall plaza.

One representative of the local Black Lives Matter movement spoke. They connected the state sanctioned killing of Palestinians at the hand of the Israeli occupation forces, and the police murders of local Black community members, including Botham Jean and Atatiana Jefferson.

The crowd consisted of many families, including strollers with young children alongside adults of all ages. Many held Palestinian flags and signs in support of Gaza, Palestine. There was also a group carrying Filipino flags and signs, “Filipinos for Palestine.”

During the speeches, Jo Hargis of the Dallas Anti-War Committee said, “We stand with Palestine to say there will not be another Nakba or expulsion into Egypt – never to return. We stand with Palestine to reject this impossible one-day evacuation.”

#DallasTX #FreePalestine #AlAqsaFlood #PYM #DallasAntiWarCommittee

Grand Rapids, MI – Hundreds gathered in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan on October 15 in the afternoon to support the Palestinian resistance against Israeli apartheid. They joined a worldwide solidarity movement in response to the Israeli government's retaliation against the Palestinian resistance launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.

Speeches from activists and community members set the tone for the day's demonstration. The speakers addressed the crowd passionately about Palestine's century-long struggle against oppression and denounced the current propaganda of Western media. Since October 7, major news outlets and U.S. politicians have spouted intentional lies fueling anti-Muslim sentiment at home and justifying genocide in Palestine.

Julian Cortez from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization said, “Israel has established a status quo of terroristic violence, to which Palestinians are daily subjected. Yet when this monopoly of force is countered, when the status quo of settler colonialism is shaken, the Western imperialist forces all clamor to denounce those struggling for freedom as ‘terrorists.’”

Speakers urged attendees to struggle against government leaders who support the Israeli government. The Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy reported that, as of 2016, Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss would not consider a Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel for its human rights violations.

Several speakers also drew attention to liberal Democrat Congresswoman Hillary Scholten for co-sponsoring the “Operation Swords of Iron” Iron Dome Supplemental Appropriations Act on October 12, which provides $2 billion to Israel's “Iron Dome” missile defense system.

Barbara Howard of Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids encouraged attendees to contact Scholten to condemn her actions. A local rabbi spoke of citizens' responsibility to be “truth tellers” in a sea of misinformation and to “call out the government” for its uncritical support of Israel.

A message of unwavering support for Palestine underlined the event. Sam Tunningley from Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (GRAARPR) said, “The Palestinians, and every single person who stands with them today, know the occupation cannot go on,” and, “But we will never forget the occupation; we will always remember the martyrs and never forget those who aided and abetted the collective torture of Palestinians for over half a century.”

A march followed the six-speaker lineup, passing through the busiest sections of downtown. Attendees chanted, and many proudly flew the Palestinian flag. Employees of several businesses stepped out to cheer on the march, and driving passersby repeatedly offered moral support through honking and cheering.

The organizers are enthusiastic about the turnout and response but are disappointed with the local media's reporting on the day's events, which distorted the rally's size and message. The group is planning another rally in the coming week.

The Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (GRAARPR) and local Palestinian activists organized the rally to speak truth to current events and to condemn Israel's ongoing and accelerating genocide of Palestinians.

#GrandRapidsMI #FreePalestine #GRAARPR #Palestine #BDS #AlAqsaFlood