Greater than 1,000 rallied Saturday in Washington in help of Palestinians and calling for an finish to US help to Israel.
The demonstration on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial got here as a ceasefire that ended 11 days of intense preventing between Israel and militant group Hamas within the Gaza Strip has to date held.
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“We hope to ship a transparent message to the US authorities that the times of supporting the Israeli state with out repercussions are over,” one of many demonstrators, 39-year-old Washington lawyer Sharif Silmi, mentioned as he stood within the crowd the place many protesters held pink, white, inexperienced and black Palestinian flags.
Supporters of Palestine maintain a rally on the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC on Could 29, 2021. (Reuters)
“We’ll stand towards any politician that continues to fund weapons to Israel. We’ll oppose them, we’ll vote towards them, we’ll fund their opponents, till we vote them out of workplace,” mentioned Silmi.
Lama Alahmad, a resident of neighboring Virginia who’s of Palestinian origin, mentioned US public opinion is popping in favor of the Palestinian trigger.
“There’s a big change” happening within the US with regard to the Palestinian trigger in search of a sovereign homeland, mentioned Alahmad.
“We simply need the world to acknowledge that we’re human beings. We aren’t terrorists,” mentioned Alahmad, a 43-year-old keep at residence mom who grew up within the United Arab Emirates earlier than shifting to the US round 20 years in the past.
Supporters of Palestine maintain a rally on the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC on Could 29, 2021. (Reuters)
Silmi insisted there was now broad opposition within the US to how Israel treats the Palestinians, which he likened to apartheid in South Africa.
“Folks have now woken up, and we’re resisting. Whether or not younger Jews, younger Muslims, younger Blacks, younger whites, there’s a generational shift. And individuals are working throughout ethnic teams, racial teams, to work for change and freedom and liberation for Palestinian individuals,” Silmi mentioned.
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