LOS ANGELES:

As Israel massacres, starves, and destroys medical care in Gaza and prepares to invade Rafah, escalating their genocidal assault on the Palestinian people to a whole new monstrous level, thousands poured out in the streets of Los Angeles for the Global Day of Protest demanding, “Hands off Rafah! Ceasefire now! Stop the genocide!” Despite the pouring rain, this was a bigger, and more determined protest than we’ve seen in months. People came from all over Southern California. The crowd was mainly young people, very diverse, including many Palestinians with many pushing strollers, as well as others from the Middle East. There was a deep anguish about Gaza. People told us they couldn’t sleep at night thinking about what’s happening, and about how unacceptable it is that so many others are turning away from it. There was, from many, a deep sense of moral responsibility to act with determination to stop the genocide now. One woman told us she wanted to put her body on the line. There was also a hunger to learn what can be done to end this, with a lot more openness to our revolutionary message than we’ve seen before at these protests.

THE REVCOM CORPS for the Emancipation of Humanity stepped on the scene, for the first time in a major public way. We had about 20 people marching with us in a vibrant, revolutionary contingent, including some who’ve just recently met, some who heard about it from social media, and some who joined on the spot. We came having endorsed the demands of the march, and we were also bringing something different and deeper: revolution to uproot the imperialist system driving the genocide.  Many who encountered our contingent stayed with it – fists in the air taking in the chants and agitation. 

Several people commented that they liked the “emancipation of humanity” part of our name appreciating the connection to revolution. At different points we had 50-100 people passionately chanting along with us – “from Palestine to the USA, revolution is the way!” – and two other chants that ended with: “the whole damn system's got to go!" raising their fists. Rafael Kadaris and Michelle Xai mixed in brief bursts of agitation speaking to why we need a revolution, what kind of revolution we’re talking about, and the leadership we have for this revolution in Bob Avakian. People listened seriously, sometimes cheering and then would come back chanting even louder afterwards. We noticed that people were moved by the positive vision of a whole new world that’s possible, without borders and wars and starving children and one group of people dominating another – and in particular about the solution for Palestine being the abolition of the state of Israel as a Jewish supremacist state and the creation of a secular revolutionary state with equality between Jews and Palestinians. In all this we agitated for people to pull out their phones and follow @BobAvakianOfficial if they’re serious about revolution.

On March 2nd, 1000s of people rallied and protested in pouring rain at NYC's Hands off Rafah global protest. Washington Square Park was filled with people, umbrellas as far as the eye could see, and though most people got drenched early on, as the gathering grew, there was a real defiance and the deep feeling that we cannot sit warm and dry at home while there's a literal genocide unfolding in front of our eyes. After a few hours of speeches a packed march of at least 5000 people went up 6th avenue to the NY Public library. 

There was a diverse mix of mainly young people – students, young Arab people from different countries, Palestinians, as well as Jewish people and Black people. Many clusters of friends came together. 

A couple of the speakers emphasized the importance of standing up against the repression of pro-Palestinian voices – shaking off your fear and knowing that if you're standing up against injustice, you are on the right side of history.

Early on, before the rally officially started, THE REVCOM CORPS for the Emancipation of Humanity gathered under the banner with their name and From Palestine to the USA, Real Revolution Is The Way. Ten people came together, got into formation and marched around the park with a call and response, “Who Are We? The REVCOM Corps! What are we fighting for? The Emancipation of Humanity. Who's Our Leader? Bob Avakian.” It was bold and clearly made some people come towards us. Then Carl Dix started agitating about the system of imperialism that has backed Israel to the hilt.  He talked about the need for mass opposition to this genocide.  And he called on people to join the RevCom Corps which is working for, as Bob Avakian says, a revolution in this time.  He called on everyone to go to @BobAvakianOfficial on different platforms and to join our contingent. At that moment, almost ten people joined us as we got back into formation and started chanting as before and marched around the park while waiting for the protest to start. 

Through the course of the protest, the RevCom Corps impacted in different ways with our banner and flyers.  We were focused on organizing people by having them go right to and follow @BobAvakianOfficial. Our posters – which lots of people took pictures of – highlighted the key questions Bob Avakian has been speaking to, "Why is Biden, and basically the entire government and ruling class of the U.S., supporting Israel in carrying out genocide against the Palestinian people, before the whole world.." and “What is the legitimate way to fight against the state of Israel, and what is a just solution to all this?"

CHICAGO:

Chicago has had  protests every week since the US backed Israeli assault on Gaza began. If our discussions with early arrivals at the rally site are any indication many in the crowd of 1000's yesterday were protesting for the first time,  jolted into action by the recent massacre of people trying to get food and Aaron Bushnell's act of protest, where he set himself on fire. One woman came to her first protest draped in a Palestinian flag. She told us how moved she was by Aaron Bushnell's sacrifice and how there are too many people, including many she knows who are simply “going on with their lives” but how she could no longer watch from the sidelines. A group of youth, one with a skateboard, waited patiently, for their first protest, as did a crew of teenage girls. Another first time protester helped us get our banners ready.

As the crowd was still gathering, the rally started. People milled around chatting  until one man started to speak. You could have heard a pin drop as the crowd grew silent. The speaker was a local surgeon, who had recently returned from Gaza. He had recorded the constant noise of gunfire day and night and played audio footage of it as he said, “We went to deal with mass casualty events, instead we witnessed a massacre of civilians... dozens and dozens of causalities day and night. It never stopped. There was no respite. We saw so many beautiful children, they looked like they were sleeping, just covered in dust. You feel like all you have to do is clean them up, send to them to school. But most of these children were dead on arrival, their internal organ ruptured from the blasts made by the 1000 lb bombs they are dropping on these neighborhoods.”

Chicago has the largest number of Palestinians in the country and the early protests, which have occurred weekly since the war began, were overwhelmingly Palestinian. This protest was very diverse with people of all nationalities, especially young people, decked in kaffiyehs in solidarity. At its height, thousands of protesters took over the streets of downtown Chicago. 

Our contingent marched under the banner The REVCOM CORPS for the Emancipation of Humanity, introducing this to people for the first time.  At points, everyone around us was chanting “From Palestine to the USA! Revolution Is the Way” and “No Netanyahu! No Genocide Joe! The Whole Damn System's Got to Go!

In pouring rain, over 10,000 people took to the street in the Bay Area on Saturday, March 2. Despite being pepper sprayed and attacked by police when it gathered outside the Israeli consulate, the protesters were not deterred.

The Revcom Corps for the Emancipation of Humanity marched in a contingent of about 20 people, half of whom joined up on the spot. This was the first public action of the Revcom Corps for the Emancipation of Humanity in the Bay Area. The contingent chanted “From Palestine to the USA, Real revolution is the way!” and struggled with people to step into the revolution in this urgent time.

Many were influenced by the contingent and joined in the call and response: “No Fascist Trump! No Genocide Joe! The whole damn system’s got to go!” And “How do we get out of this mess? Revolution Nothing less!”

There was a positive response to the call not to choose between the lesser of two evils, but to recognize it is this whole system of capitalism-imperialism that has to go through an actual revolution.