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