
Bay Ridge: The NY Revolution Club joined the march through the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, with a banner carried by fellow marchers. Photo: revcom.us
There has been an outpouring of protests in hundreds of cities large and small throughout the U.S.—supporting the Palestinian people and condemning U.S.-backed Israel's genocidal attacks in Gaza. This includes San Francisco and LA… Seattle… Denver… Houston… Chicago… Boston… Detroit and Flint in Michigan… Tampa Bay, Fort Lauderdale, Tallahassee, and Miami in Florida… New York… and more.
In DC, on Thursday, October 19, hundreds of people were arrested during a sit-in at a House of Representatives office building near the Capitol, protesting “Israel’s ongoing oppression of Palestinians,” organized by Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now. In an unprecedented way, prominent artists, entertainers and intellectuals are speaking out publicly against Israel's crimes and Biden's full backing of Israel. Some of these statements are calling for a ceasefire, others are calling for justice for the Palestinian people.
There has been a dramatic increase in student-led rallies coast to coast, including at UC Berkeley, UCLA, Columbia, Harvard, and many more. Many campuses have seen confrontations between pro-Zionist and pro-Palestinian students. And there have been major efforts to silence Students for Justice in Palestine and other groups that support the people of Palestine by spreading the lie that opposing Israel is the same as anti-Semitism. These attacks need to be opposed.
These protests have involved a wide range of views and forces, including forces who blindly uphold, or justify, the actions of Hamas—a reactionary Islamic fundamentalist group. As well as forces who are calling for some kind of peaceful solution within a more progressive Zionist framework.
While there has to be ongoing struggle, this overall upsurge is important. People in the U.S. have a special responsibility to stand against the crimes of U.S. imperialism, which has given full backing, financial and military support to Israel for decades!
In a number of cities in the U.S., revcoms (revolutionary communists) have been in the midst of the upsurge—uniting with the righteous rage, struggling with wrong ideas that are not in the interests of humanity, and bringing forward that there is another, truly emancipating, way forward: actual revolution and the new communism developed by Bob Avakian.
Prominent Voices against Israel’s War on Gaza
Artists Call for Ceasefire Now
A group of actors, musicians, and others in the arts and entertainment fields sent a letter to Biden. Signatories so far include Cate Blanchett, America Ferrera, Bassem Youssef, Jon Stewart, Dua Lipa, Hasan Minhaj, Wanda Sykes, and Michael Stipe.
We come together as artists and advocates, but most importantly as human beings witnessing the devastating loss of lives and unfolding horrors in Israel and Palestine.
We ask that, as President of the United States, you call for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza and Israel before another life is lost. More than 5,000 people have been killed in the last week and a half – a number any person of conscience knows is catastrophic. We believe all life is sacred, no matter faith or ethnicity and we condemn the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians…
Beyond our pain and mourning for all of the people there and their loved ones around the world we are motivated by an unbending will to stand for our common humanity. We stand for freedom, justice, dignity and peace for all people – and a deep desire to stop more bloodshed.
We refuse to tell future generations the story of our silence, that we stood by and did nothing. As Emergency Relief Chief Martin Griffiths told UN News, “History is watching.”
Read the whole letter and signatories list here.
An Open Letter from the Art Community to Cultural Organizations
From prominent artists, academics, architects, filmmakers and others. Published at the Art Forum, October 19. Signatories include Nan Goldin, Laura Poitras, Eyal Weizman, Saidiya Hartman, Peter Doig, Barbara Kruger, Dread Scott, and many others.
…We support Palestinian liberation and call for an end to the killing and harming of all civilians, an immediate ceasefire, the passage of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and the end of the complicity of our governing bodies in grave human rights violations and war crimes.
We demand that the institutional silence around the ongoing humanitarian crisis that 2.3 million Palestinians are facing in the occupied and besieged Gaza Strip be broken immediately. In the words of the UN resident humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian Territory, “It’s about the loss of our humanity if the international community allows this to continue. What we are seeing now is simply inhumane.”…
Read the whole statement and signatories list here.
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Orlando, Florida: Hundreds rallied Friday outside Orlando City Hall supporting the Palestinians and demanding lawmakers call for a ceasefire before Israel launches its genocidal attack. After the rally they marched to Lake Eola. Israeli forces are expected to mount a ground assault on Gaza as the war with Hamas enters its third week. Photo: AP
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Students at UCLA held a walkout on Thursday afternoon, holding a march and a gathering of a couple hundred students at Bruin Plaza to demonstrate in support of Palestine. The walkout was organized by 10 student groups, with speakers, chants and a march. The speakers called on the UC to divest from companies involved with the Israeli government, and chanting Free, Free, Palestine! Photo: Joseph Jiminez/Daily Bruin
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San Francisco: Over 2 dozen protesters chained themselves together in front of the Federal Building on Thursday, Oct 19, where U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi's office is located. They condemned her support for the U.S. sending funds to Israel and demanded she be part of calling for a ceasefire. Photo: AP