NYC, San Diego: Solidarity with Gaza

Hundreds of people rallied in the Herald Square shopping center in downtown Manhattan on Jan. 9 and then marched more than a mile to the Israeli Consulate to commemorate and protest the vicious Israeli assault on Gaza two years ago and the ongoing blockade of the small region’s 1.5 million people. Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition initiated the march, which many other organizations co-sponsored. During the weeks of bombing and invasion that the Israeli military began on Dec. 27, 2008, more than 1,400 Palestinians died, including more than 350 children.

At the opening rally that lasted more than an hour, speakers from many of the anti-imperialist groups in the New York metropolitan area spoke and called attention to the growth of the worldwide movement in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle. This growth has accelerated since the assault on Gaza and the Israeli attack on the aid ship Mavi Marmara last spring, which awakened many youth to the criminal nature of the Israeli state and its occupation of Palestine.

Student organizations from Hunter and Brooklyn Colleges had representatives at the rally, as did Jewish organizations in solidarity with Palestine. Speakers also denounced U.S. complicity with Israel in all these crimes, as shown by the Pentagon providing most of Israel’s weapons and U.S. diplomacy supporting Israel in every United Nations vote.

Among the speakers were representatives of BAYAN and the Korean group Nodutdol. Sara Flounders, a co-director of the International Action Center, also spoke. Flounders had just participated in a solidarity trip to Gaza in a delegation that included human rights leader Ramsey Clark. Clark and Flounders are scheduled to speak at a report-back meeting on Jan. 19 at the IAC office. Larry Holmes also spoke from the IAC. Workers World Party had a strong delegation at the demonstration, where Workers World newspaper was distributed.

— Report and photo by John Catalinotto

Organized by the San Diego chapter of Al-Awda, several hundred pro-Palestine activists assembled in the city’s central park on Jan. 9 to mark the second anniversary of the Israeli attack on Gaza, an atrocity which resulted in the slaughter of more then 1,400 Gazans, overwhelmingly civilians.

Challenged by a larger Zionist mobilization, the Gaza supporters held their ground, later conducting a march through the large park to reach out to Sunday visitors. They then reassembled at the park’s fountain for a reading of the names of the hundreds of Palestinian children martyrs who have been killed by the Israelis during and since that attack on Gaza.

Following the reading of each name and the child’s age, the crowd shouted, “Presente!” Al-Awda leader Zahi Damuni reminded the crowd that the Israeli slaughter of Gazans is an ongoing massacre and we all have a responsibility to find ways to challenge Israeli aggression and the support it receives from the U.S. government.

Bob McCubbin, representing the San Diego International Action Center and Workers World Party, announced the presence in Gaza of a U.S. solidarity delegation led by IAC founder Ramsey Clark.

— Workers World San Diego bureau