The largest white supremacist event in New York City is the annual “Israel” parade. Held this year on June 4, it celebrated the 75th anniversary of the apartheid state created by expelling over 700,000 Palestinians from their homeland.
Called the Nakba ― Arabic for catastrophe ― the forced removal of Indigenous people included killing 15,000 Palestinians. Massacres were conducted at Deir Yassin and other villages.
A protest against this parade was called by Al-Awda NY: the Palestine Right to Return Coalition; American Muslims for Palestine; and NY4Palestine.
This courageous grouping confronted the “Israel” parade bigots. They carried Palestinian flags, signs, and banners denouncing the racist Zionist state and the support it gets from the U.S.
Among them were rabbis and other members of Neturei Karta, Orthodox Jews who oppose Zionism and support Palestinians’ right to return to their homeland. Other groups present included the ANSWER Coalition, Socialist Action, and Struggle-La Lucha newspaper.
The “Israel” parade is not a celebration of Jewish contributions to world culture. It’s a racist mobilization of the most reactionary elements, with cops on horses and other police detachments in the lead.
Particularly repulsive was the float celebrating the Zionist settlers in Al-Khalīl (Hebron) who constantly attack Palestinians. One of the settlers, Brooklyn-born Baruch Goldstein, murdered 25 worshippers in a mosque on Feb. 25, 1994, before survivors killed him.
There were also many contingents of students from Yeshivas, which function like the “seg academies” do in the South and elsewhere. These schools keep Jewish youth from contact with Black and Latinx students. Many of the older Yeshiva students were furious at the Palestinian supporters.
As disgusting as this annual parade is, it was important that there was opposition to it. Palestine will win!
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