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Palestine solidarity rally called amid Gaza violence
October 9, 2023 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Palestine solidarity rally called amid Gaza violence
When: Monday, October 9 at 6:00 p.m.
Where: Outside Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s office, 1200 S Washington Ave, Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS – Solidarity groups announced an emergency rally to be held outside the downtown office of Senator Amy Klobuchar to demand an immediate end to US aid to Israel, following renewed Israeli military strikes on Gaza.
On Saturday, October 7, Palestinian resistance fighters launched incursions into Israel-occupied territory outside the densely populated Gaza Strip. Footage showed Palestinian bulldozers demolishing the border fence built by Israel to contain Gaza after the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian-controlled enclave in 2005. In 2018, the Gaza border fence was the site of the Great March of Return protests, where hundreds of Palestinian refugees were killed and wounded by Israeli gunfire as they attempted to return to their homeland en masse.
Israel’s controversial far-right Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the renewed Palestinian resistance actions by declaring a “state of war,” vowing to inflict an “unprecedented price” on Gaza. Previous Israeli military attacks on Gaza have been marked by collective punishment of the 2.3 million Palestinians living in the enclave, through bombings of civilian infrastructure and the blockade of humanitarian supplies from entering.
“As long as apartheid Israel continues to occupy Palestinian land, we should expect that Palestinians will resist and fight for the freedom of their nation by any means necessary,” said Wyatt Miller of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee, the group initiating the Minneapolis call to action. “Peace can only be achieved through justice, yet the US continues to send billions in aid to prop up Israel’s unjust regime. It needs to stop.”
US President Joe Biden and politicians from both major parties quickly pledged support for Israel in the wake of the renewed fighting. Minnesota’s Senator Amy Klobuchar, a strong congressional supporter of US aid to Israel, characterized the Palestinian resistance forces as “terrorists.”
As of Saturday afternoon, emergency Palestine solidarity rallies were being organized in dozens of cities around the world. Initial endorsers of the Minneapolis action included American Muslims for Palestine MN, Minnesota Anti-War Committee, Minnesota BDS Community, Minnesota Peace Action Coalition, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Veterans for Peace Chapter 27 and Women Against Military Madness.