Demonstrators gather for the International Day of Solidarity [Brooke Anderson/TNA]
The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People brought crowds to cities across the US, where demonstrators called for an arms embargo and divestment from Israel in response to its occupation and ongoing assaults on Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Saturday’s rallies fell over Thanksgiving weekend, a moment when many Americans reflect on the country’s own history of injustice against Indigenous communities and gather with relatives, including immigrant families who continue to live under the threat of deportation.
“With the so-called ceasefire in place, we’re still seeing violence and upheaval in the region. I think people recognise the importance of continuing to come out,” Dina Saadeh, a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement, told The New Arab.
“On Thanksgiving, people are either away or spending time with loved ones. The fact that people came out here today to mark this day with us is very significant,” she added.
Demonstrators carried signs in English, Spanish and Arabic urging an arms embargo and divestment. Several gatherings focused on specific local campaigns.
In northern Virginia, protesters centred their efforts on pushing the Virginia Retirement System to withdraw public workers’ pension funds from companies tied to Israel.
“The Virginia Retirement System pours 300 million dollars into multinational corporations that receive tax cuts and line the pockets of the wealthy elite. In defaulting to making decisions ‘with only fiscal consideration in mind’, the VRS is openly saying it has no regard for human life, only for money. The VRS places profit over people,” the Palestinian Youth Movement said in a public statement.
“Lockheed Martin is the manufacturer of the notorious F-35s and F-16s that have flown over Gaza for the past two years, dropping bombs on our people in a relentless flurry,” the group added, noting the company is among fourteen named in the VRS: No Pensions for Genocide campaign.
In northern California, activists continued pressuring local officials to impose an arms embargo at Oakland airport.
“We know it’s possible for them to do something because they have before. We know they’re not as powerless as they’d want us to believe,” Saadeh told TNA.
“I think a lot of people here would say to them: We believe in the power you have to stop this, and we’d ask you to rise above your fear of the Trump administration and try to lay low,” she said.
“We’ve asked them to do something not even difficult. We’ve asked them to adopt resolution language that’s favourable towards a people’s arms embargo and not shipping these parts out of the Oakland airport,” she added, saying they will keep attending council meetings to maintain pressure.
Saturday’s demonstrations for the International Day of Solidarity were part of a wider wave of weekend protests across the US, including actions denouncing President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigrants.
