Hundreds of people rallied for Palestine in the Jackson Heights section of Queens, New York City, on Feb. 24. They gathered in Diversity Plaza, the center of a South Asian community.
“Honor Our Martyrs” was the event’s title. It commemorated the freedom struggles of both the Palestinian and Bengali peoples.
The rally was called by the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence (CAAAV) and Bangladeshi Americans for Political Progress. Speakers included representatives from the Palestinian struggle; Bangladeshi Americans for Political Progress; Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence Astoria Tenants Union; New York Taxi Workers Alliance; The People’s Forum; and the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
They denounced the U.S. paid-for murder of more than 30,000 people in Gaza. Several spoke of the struggle to defend the Bengali language in the 1950s.
Flags from both Bangladesh and Palestine were carried. One of the signs read, “Bangladesh stands with Palestine.”
Both Palestine and Bangladesh had been British colonies. British aristocrats looted trillions from South Asia.
The Biden administration has sent aircraft carriers to attack Yemen and shore up Benjamin Netanyahu’s murderous assault on Gaza. Back in 1971, Nixon and Kissinger sent an aircraft carrier to try to intimidate the Bengali independence struggle.
The rally was also a mobilization against racist and bigoted violence. The Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence was founded in response to the 1982 racist murder of Chinese American Vincent Chin.
Six-year-old Wadea al-Fayoume was stabbed 26 times by his landlord last October, killing the Palestinian child.
A few blocks from the rally was where Julio Rivera was murdered by homophobic bigots in 1990. Jackson Heights is home every year to Queens Pride, the second largest Pride march in the New York City area.
From Bangladesh to Palestine, the people united will never be defeated!
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