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Thousands gathered in New York City on Wednesday, July 9, for a protest against the occupation of Palestine. The demonstration began with a rally in front of the Israeli Consulate on 42nd St and 2nd Ave, followed by a march down 42nd St to the News Corporation building, home of Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post.
Protesters were particularly concerned with Israel’s ongoing collective punishment of Palestinians following the recent kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens in the West Bank and the biased media coverage of these events. Over 400 Palestinians have been arrested in the West Bank and eight were killed during the military campaign. The houses of two suspects outside Hebron were destroyed. Airstrikes on Gaza have killed at least 78 over the last few days, including 14 children. Israeli officials have yet to release any evidence in the kidnapping.
Protesters were also concerned with placing the current conflagration into the context of the overall occupation. The abduction and murder of 16 year old Mohammed Abu Khdeir by an Israeli lynch mob in Jerusalem drew particular condemnation, as well as the beating of his Palestinian-American teenage cousin Tarek Abu Khdeir by Israeli police.
“We are not the extremists. The extremists are the ones who believe in an ethnically pure Jewish state,” Max Blumenthal, author of Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel, told the crowd.
“You stand in the footsteps of Martin Luther King. You stand in the footsteps of Malcolm X. You stand in the footsteps of Stephen Biko. And you will carry this movement forward until Palestine is free.”
Below are some photos and video of the event.
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