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Around 250 people gathered in downtown Syracuse Friday afternoon for a rally supporting the people of Palestine. The rally called for the United States to stop sending military aid to Israel and for a ceasefire in the conflict. Protestors also demanded the restoration of resources and humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

Justice for Palestine, a committee of the Syracuse Peace Council, organized the rally along with the Syracuse chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Rally attendees, including older adults, children and local students, gathered in front of the James F. Hanley Federal Building near Clinton Square and marched to Columbus Circle.

Liam Hines, a member of the PSL’s Syracuse chapter and a Syracuse University alumnus, said that while some may label the “Free Palestine” rally as antisemitic or pro-terrorist, the rally’s message was peace for all.

“The people who came to this rally today want peace in the Middle East, want peace in Palestine, want peace for everybody, but we recognize the root causes of the violence, which is the Israeli occupation,” Hines said. “We know that there is no peace, there is no true peace while Palestinians live under apartheid. The Israeli occupation does not stand for Jewish people.”

A member of SPC, who wished to remain unnamed for safety reasons, said the council began organizing the rally last week to advocate for Palestinians in light of Hamas’ attack and the subsequent “detrimental” media response.

“We realized that the way that it was being talked about in a lot of media was erasing the violence that Palestinians have endured for the past 70 plus years, and framing them in a way that they were demonized and framing all Gazans as responsible for the acts that were committed on the 7th,” the SPC member said.

Hamas, a militant group, launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7. As of Thursday, 1,300 Israelis have been killed, according to the Wall Street Journal. Since the attack, Israel has besieged Gaza, and on Friday morning ordered 1.1 million people living in Gaza to evacuate. Around 1,900 Palestinians have been killed as of Friday.

“Seeing this amount of support by people from all walks of life is incredible because it shouldn’t just be Palestinians that are coming out here advocating for their own human decency, it should be everyone,” the member said. “It’s incredibly important for us to stand out here and vocalize that because someone has to.”

Before the rally progressed through downtown, Syracuse community members spoke about their personal ties to the conflict and their reasons for marching. One speaker, a Palestinian student at SUNY Upstate Medical University identified as Ahman, said his uncle and cousin were killed in a conflict with soldiers this past week.

“We may stand on American soil far away from what’s unfolding in Gaza and in the West Bank, but the suffering of our Palestinian brothers and sisters resonates across borders and transcends differences and affiliations,” he said. “We gather here to address the humanitarian tragedy that’s unfolding before the eyes of the world … We are all human, and this is a humanitarian issue.”

Members of the Jewish community voiced their support for Palestine at the rally as well, including Laura Jaffee, an organizer at Service Employees International Union. She said her own ancestors were killed in the Holocaust, but said that is not a reason to justify Israel’s actions.

“Jews did not survive ethnic cleansing in Europe only to have our personhood and history wielded as warfare to legitimize the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians,” Jaffe said.

Hines echoed her statements and said Israel’s retaliations against Hamas did not represent the interests of Jewish people.

“We all know that the violence that is the Israeli occupation is counter to the views of any peace-loving person,” Hines said.

Carol Resnick, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace, said that while still mourning those killed in Israel, she condemns the Israeli government’s response.

“Many are still counting the dead, looking for missing loved ones, devastated by the loss, and now, horrifyingly, Israeli and American governments are weaponizing these deaths to fuel a genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza,” Resnick said.

Joe Zhao | Asst. Photo Editor

Alongside the rally participants were people in high-visibility gear to serve as guides and medics. As the march moved through downtown to Columbus Circle, several passersby honked their car horns to show their support. Marchers’ signs called for an end to the violence, especially against children, and for all people, including Muslims and Jews, to show support.

Nor Rizek, a rally attendee, said she felt a personal connection to come to the march both because of her Palestinian identity and her work in emergency medical services. Israel has cut off water, fuel and electricity supply to Gaza, while vowing to stop any humanitarian aid from accessing the area, according to The New York Times.

“I couldn’t imagine doing my job to help people (in Palestine). Like our job is to save people’s lives, and I couldn’t imagine someone bombing me or shooting at me,” Rizek said.

Adam, another rally attendee who wished to be identified by his first name only for safety reasons, said that although he isn’t Palestinian, he still wanted to come to the rally to show that there are movements advocating for the benefit of Palestinians and Israelis.

“There are many other groups in Palestine that advocate for the benefit of the people and not for religious violence and nationalism, and more media attention should be put towards those groups and their ideas of social justice,” he said.

Following the march, another SPC member urged rally attendees to call representatives and President Joe Biden to ask that they stop voting to approve military funding and aid to Israel.

So far in 2023, congress has allocated $3.8 billion in aid for Israel, according to Business Insider. Time reported on Wednesday that Biden is working with congress on another $2 billion for Israel’s military efforts.

Several attendees called representatives as they were gathered around the monument of Christopher Columbus. The significance of ending the rally by the Columbus monument, Hines said, was the symbolism of colonialism in history and its current role in the conflict.

“Israel is living out this history in the Middle East. Of course, we decry Columbus and his genocide that he carried out against Native Americans and (the) settler colonial regime that he opened the doors for,” Hines said.

Speaking from in front of the monument, Hines made a final call to end U.S. military aid to Israel.

“Why is it that the United States can send billions of dollars in military aid to Israel but can’t house all of our neighbors?” he said. “Why can’t we house our neighbors, but we can give billions and missiles and aircraft carriers to Israel to carry out genocidal apartheid? This is shameful. And this is why we’re in the streets today.”

DISCLAIMER: Liam Hines has previously written for The Daily Orange. He has since graduated from Syracuse University and is no longer involved with The D.O. in any capacity and does not influence the editorial content of The D.O.

Published on October 14, 2023 at 12:46 am

Contact Stephanie: spwright@syr.edu