New Orleans, LA – On September 21, around 70 people rallied and marched in response to recent attacks on the Gaza strip and also in support of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil. Demands included “Hands off Gaza City!” “Hands off Mahmoud Khalil!” and “Arrest Netanyahu!”
As protesters gathered to hear speeches, chants of “Resistance is justified when Palestine is occupied!” and “Palestine is our demand, no peace on stolen land!” kept the crowd energized and unified under the banner of Palestinian liberation. Speakers expressed indignation at recent news reports about the IDF’s genocidal incursion into Gaza City.
“My uncle lives in a tent in Khan Younis, he says he can hear the bombing get louder in Gaza City. It’s worse than normal. That was two weeks ago, and now tanks are rolling into the city. It’s time to wake up!” said Leila Abu Orf, a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement in New Orleans.
Israel increased the scale of the genocide by targeting civilian infrastructure, destroying 20 high rise city blocks in the past two weeks. Although states like Canada, Britain and Australia debate recognition of an independent Palestinian state, people took to the streets to demand concrete measures to end the genocide now.
Agitated protesters cried, “Hands off Mahmoud now!” responding to the doubled-down efforts to deport Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil.
“They’ve been trying to repress our movement for so long, and they’re continuing to try and repress our movement and the people at large. When they send ICE agents to arrest Mahmoud Khalil or anybody else that stands in solidarity with Palestine, we fight back!” shouted Shreyas Vasudevan, an organizer with New Orleans Stop Helping Israel’s Ports (NOSHIP).
Mahmoud Khalil, a fighter for Palestinian liberation who took on an important role in the Columbia University Popular University for Gaza encampment, recently faced a ruling by a Louisiana immigration judge that he must be deported to Algeria or Syria. Khalil was freed from an immigration prison on June 20 after months of organizing around his case.
“NOSHIP calls for the arrest and prosecution of the puppet prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been warmly invited to the White House. Several hours ago, Netanyahu publicly threatened every country on Earth that was recognizing Palestine with American military violence,” said Charlie Schully, an organizer in NOSHIP. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an international war criminal and helmsman of the Palestinian genocide, is set to speak at the United Nations Assembly in New York City. Calls for his arrest are widespread across the United States and the world.
Activists directed the crowd to take the movement to a new level by organizing to fight back and play an active role in Palestinian liberation.
“The Palestinian resistance is winning in the streets, the tunnels, on land and on the seas! We must support them as they kick this crumbling empire on its way down, and we say that is a very good thing!” said Serena Sojic-Borne of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.
#NewOrleansLA #LA #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #NOSHIP #PYM #FRSO
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