MN marches to commemorate 300 days of genocide in Palestine

St. Paul, MN – On Friday, August 2, the Free Palestine Coalition held a rally on the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue bridge and marched to Governor Tim Walz’s residence to commemorate 300 days of genocide in Palestine and to demand a permanent ceasefire, an end to the occupation, and a free Palestine from the river to the sea.

As hundreds of cars drove by, crowd of over 150 people gathered on the bridge despite the 90-degree heat, chanting and holding signs calling for the arrest of Netanyahu, demanding Minnesota divestment from Israel and an end to the genocide.

The crowd then marched to the governor’s temporary residence at the Eastcliff Mansion. Walz is a potential vice presidential candidate pick. Gathering at the mansion, speakers from organizations such as Ceasefire Choir, Students for Justice in Palestine, the MN Anti War Committee, and the Palestinian community all talked about what the last 300-plus days of genocide by the terrorist state of Israel has looked like.

This last week has been particularly brutal, seeing Palestine officially declaring a polio epidemic as a result of the genocide, Israel bombing Beirut, Israel assassinating Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh (the main negotiator for the ceasefire) in Tehran, and assassinating a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon. The last was as a result of Israel making unsupported claims that Hezbollah was responsible for a rocket attack on July 27 on a soccer pitch in the Golan Heights, an occupied territory in Syria.

As one of the speakers at the rally, Trent Fast from the MN Anti-War Committee stated, “It is crystal clear that these are the desperate actions of a dying power lashing out amid its death throes, hoping to start a regional war so that its primary sponsor, the U.S., is forced to come to its rescue or risk losing its attack dog in west Asia.”

Meredith Aby from the MN Anti-War Committee explained her feelings about the action, “It was particularly powerful to march to Governor Walz’s mansion, because he’s being considered for Kamala Harris’ running mate and, despite our call-in days, protests, testifying, and even civil disobedience, he has remained a barrier to getting Minnesota to divest from genocide.” As protesters marched and rallied outside the mansion, a state trooper car was stationed on the governor’s lawn and two police cars trailed behind the march.

One of the speakers, Muhammed Jallad, shared a heartbreaking story of his mother’s experience of Israeli military in Palestine and witnessing the death of her friends and neighbors when she was only five years old. He shared how much it means to him to see so many people showing up and fighting for Palestine.

Aby stated, “It was important for Minnesota to be represented this weekend as people across the world stood up for Palestine as we hit 300 days of genocide in Gaza. We have over 100 people from Minnesota planning on going to Chicago to protest for Palestine at the DNC in two weeks. Regardless of who is on the ticket we have the same demands. We demand the U.S. stop supporting Israel’s genocide campaign on Palestine!”

The Anti-War Committee’s Sabry Wazwaz said, “The people across the Twin Cities, despite the extreme heat, came out and we will never stop coming out until we not only end this genocide but the brutal military occupation by Israel as well.”

This crowd let it be known that they are not giving up on Palestine, they are still counting each day that goes by in this genocide and that they will not stop until Minnesota divests from Israel and Palestine is free.

#StPaulMN #Palestine #FreePalestineCoalition #CeasefireChoir #SJP #MNAWC