10,000 march in NYC to stop the genocide in Gaza

‘March for Humanity’ hears Chris Smalls and Mahmoud Khalil

Aug. 16 — People came from up and down the East Coast to New York City today to protest the deliberate starvation of Palestinians in Gaza. Behind the Zionist apartheid regime carrying out the genocide are its U.S. paymasters.

Protesters gathered in front of the famous New York Public Library on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue. The crowd was so large that it spilled into the street. People carried hundreds of colorful banners, signs and Palestinian flags.

Among the speakers was the courageous activist and scholar Mahmoud Khalil, who was illegally seized by ICE agents and spent 104 days in a Louisiana prison. Khalil’s “crime,” according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was that his activism to save Palestinian lives allegedly harmed U.S. foreign policy. 

To Rubio, First Amendment guarantees of free speech don’t exist for immigrants or any other opponents of Trump. Yet this fascist was confirmed as Secretary of State by a 99-0 vote in the U.S. Senate, including every Democratic member. 

Mahmoud Khalil movingly described the assassination of the Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif, along with six other people, in Gaza. Over 240 journalists have been murdered in Gaza by Zionist war criminals in an attempt to suppress the truth.

Chris Smalls, the founder of the Amazon Labor Union, was welcomed by the thousands assembled. Smalls was a crew member of the Handala, a ship attempting to bring life-saving supplies to Gaza that was seized last month in international waters by the Zionist entity’s navy.

The labor leader was the only Black member of the crew and the only one beaten by Zionist thugs. It’s shameful that the AFL-CIO leadership didn’t condemn this racist attack.

Stop starving Gaza!

Miriam Osman spoke from the Palestinian Youth Movement and Layan Fuleihan spoke from The People’s Forum. Both organizations helped to organize the protest.

Bint Au Musa, from PAL-AWDA, the Palestinian Assembly for Liberation, read a letter from a doctor in Gaza. Eugene Puryear spoke from the Party for Socialism and Liberation. 

The ANSWER Coalition’s national coordinator, Brian Becker, revealed that Marco Rubio is cancelling visas for Palestinians, including children in Gaza seeking cancer treatment in the U.S. 

People moved out to march through the streets. Chants bounced off Manhattan skyscrapers as many people on the sidewalks showed their support. The hour-long march ended in Central Park, where a short rally was held.

Palestine will win!