Philly protesters support Palestine, fly kites, hit Genocide Joe

Philadelphia

As part of a global Kite Flight in Solidarity with Gaza, Philadelphia families came out on Dec. 9 to paint pro-Palestine designs on kites and fly them at the Belmont Plateau, with the city skyline in the distance. The event came just a few days after the death of Gazan poet Refaat Alareer, who was murdered by Israel. 

Flying kites is featured in one of Alareer’s last poems. The full text is as follows:

If I must die
you must live
to tell my story
to sell my things
to buy a piece of cloth and some strings,
(make it white with a long tail) so that a child, somewhere in Gaza
while looking heaven in the eye
awaiting his dad who left in a blaze —
and bid no one farewell
not even to his flesh,
not even to himself —
sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above
and thinks for a moment an angel is there
bringing back love
If I must die
let it bring hope
let it be a tale

Hundreds of people showed up again on Dec. 11 to protest Genocide Joe Biden’s presence in Philadelphia.