Far-Left activists across Arizona are organizing a “Free Palestine” protest in Phoenix on Saturday to demand Israel agree to a ceasefire in its war against Hamas. The coordinated effort is a part of a nationwide show of force in major U.S. cities, the largest of which is expected to be in Washington, D.C.
“Lift the siege on Gaza Now!” the social media posts by organizers proclaim, as they invite supporters to “Find a bus to join” the protest on November 4th.
Among the groups co-sponsoring the marches are the Democratic Socialists of America, the ANSWER coalition, Al-Awda, the People’s Forum, National Students for Justice in Palestine, U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), Maryland2Palestine.
Meanwhile, the Phoenix DSA is promoting the same on its X account, reposting the same talking points.
The local group hit the streets the day after the Hamas attack on October 8 declaring their solidarity with fellow far-Left activists in support of “Palestinian liberation” tweeting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”
Find a bus to join us & tens of thousands in a mass mobilization in D.C. on Nov 4th! Take to the streets for a #CeasefireNOW and #FreePalestine! Sign up here: https://t.co/QqnZheLKp5 pic.twitter.com/UCtorcZ63u
— DSA (@DemSocialists) October 30, 2023
A “sister action” is scheduled for San Francisco.
“Join thousands of protesters from the Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego, Arizona, and elsewhere as we gather this Saturday at 1pm at the San Francisco Civic Center as part of an International Day of Solidarity with Palestine!”, the leftist group A.N.S.W.E.R (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), a co-sponsor of the marches, declares on its website.
“This West Coast action will take place as tens of thousands of people converge in Washington D.C. for a truly historic national march to demand no more U.S. aid to Israel and an immediate end to the genocidal siege on Gaza.”
Al-Awda has been accused by pro-Israel groups of maintaining ties with terrorist organizations by way of its membership in the Palestinian Boycott, Divest, and Sanction National Committee, according to InfluenceWatch.
National Students for Justice in Palestine, as The Star News Network has detailed, has been accused of being “a terror-affiliated anti-Semitic network that currently operates with autonomy and impunity at colleges and universities across the United States.”
The Hamas attacks on Israel were the fulfilment of a vision of the world by Muslims who are anything but part of the co-exist movement, said Jake Bennett, director of Policy and Legislative Affairs for the Israeli-American Coalition for Action. Bennett’s organization is dedicated to strengthening the relationship between the U.S. and Israel and making the voices of Israeli-Americans heard by policymakers.
“It is what we have seen since the inception of the Hamas charter, which calls for the genocide of Jews and the eradication of the state of Israel,” Bennett said Tuesday in a phone conversation with The Star News Network from Israel. “They have never stopped working for the destruction of Israel in the 30 years since the Oslo Accords.”
But while DSA and other Leftist groups call for a ceasefire, Hamas told The Toronto Sun it isn’t interested in peace.
The death toll continues to rise in the nearly four-week war, with the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry reporting 8,000 killed by Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
But Hamas and their allies have been hitting Israel hard, too. Bennett said rockets flew over his head on Tuesday as he ate lunch with a friend in Tel Aviv. He could hear rockets hit by interceptor missiles.
“It’s a disconcerting way to live, to say the least,” he said. “I was with someone who had two children at home. She was calling her husband to say, ‘Get the kids into the bomb shelter right now!’”
Bennett said he was horrified but not shocked by the Hamas massacre, and he’s saddened but not surprised about a minority of Americans blaming Israel for the terrorist attack and calling for a cease-fire.
While he said there’s been a good deal of “willful blindness about the depths of depravity and hatred,” the Israeli-American Coalition for Action policy director said the barbaric attacks have galvanized Israel.
“It’s been a year of political divisiveness in Israel since the elections last December, but all of the polarization is invisible right now because the pain and shock and hurt are bringing people together,” he said.
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
