Jayson Massey
November 18, 2023
On Monday, November 14, more than thirty people rallied for a ceasefire in Palestine and walked to City Hall to raise awareness for the ongoing tragedies in the Middle East. They gathered on the Main Campus at Community College of Philadelphia, listening to calls for peace over a megaphone, holding signs and cheering in the autumn weather. The group marched east along Spring Garden Avenue, chanting phrases like “We will end apartheid,” and “Free Palestine.” The group turned south down Broad Street, trailed and flanked by Philadelphia police and Up Against the Law Legal Collective volunteers, stopping at the north side of City Hall. Three students successively shared their messages over the megaphone to group of well over sixty supporters waving multiple sizable Palestinian flags and still more signs. After six in the evening, the final speaker shared her parting words for members of the rally: “We are not headlines; we are humans.”
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) led an interfaith action in front of Senator John Fetterman’s office on November 16. Over 200 people listened to speakers from different faiths, chanted, and built a memorial those killed in the Gaza violence since October 7. One of the organizers, AFSC’s Mike Merryman-Lotze, went up to Fetterman’s office to deliver letters urging a ceasefire. Merryman-Lotze also shared updates from Gaza and work from Palestinian writers recording decades of mistreatment by occupation and blockades.
Tali Ruskin of Jewish Voice for Peace Philadelphia spoke to rejecting the historical suffering endured by Jewish societies as a defense for war crimes carried out by the Israeli Defense Force against Palestine. He also wants John Fetterman and his colleagues in the U.S. Senate to contest taxpayer dollars going to fund military hostility.
“Sally,” a Palestinian student in Philly, spoke about her frustration to be seen as a human being. She also spoke about anti-Arab harassment here on CCP’s campus while she was putting up flyers. She doesn’t feel safe, so she hides her identity to avoid further insults.
Over twenty communities participated in the AFSC “NO Tax Dollars for War Crimes” day of action in front of Congressional offices, memorialized those who died, demanded a ceasefire for Gaza and a halt to U.S. military aid for Israel. The goal of the campaign is to keep up the pressure on American elected officials.
References:
No tax dollars for war crimes. (2023, November 16). American Friends Service Committee. https://afsc.org/news/no-tax-dollars-war-crimes
Moreno, J. F. (2023, November 13). Protest during a rally calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas outside the office of sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa, in Philadelphia. https://www.inquirer.com. https://www.inquirer.com/photo/protest-during-rally-calling-ceasefire-between-israel-hamas-outside-office-sen-john-fetterman-d-pa-philadelphia-20231113.html
Instagram. (n.d.). Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/afsc_org/
