Crowds rally behind Palestine in downtown Raleigh, denounce Israel’s bombing of Gaza
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NC responds to Israel-Hamas war
Since Oct. 7, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, the ensuing war in Gaza has had an impact around the world. In the Triangle, protesters have taken to the streets, college campuses and government meetings to call for a cease-fire, aid to Gaza and the release of hostages. Here is ongoing coverage from The News & Observer.
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Large crowds returned to downtown Raleigh on Sunday for another rally in support of Palestine amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
For nearly 90 minutes, speakers elicited spirited reactions from the crowd as they denounced Israel’s bombing of Gaza, expressed anger over the U.S. government’s plan to provide Israel with more than $14 billion in additional military assistance, and demanded an immediate ceasefire.
Event organizers estimated that a few thousand people had gathered for the rally in Moore Square, and a march throughout downtown Raleigh that followed.
People of all ages, including many who came to the rally with their entire families, cheered as speakers led chants of “free, free Palestine” and “long live the Intifada,” and called for an end to the bombings of Gaza, which have led to the deaths of more than 4,300 Palestinians, according to The Associated Press.
In Israel, the AP reports, more than 1,400 people have died, most of whom were killed in the surprise attacks launched on Oct. 7 by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization.
The rally was the third held this month by a local chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and several other groups.
In addition to local activists, the crowd on Sunday also heard from Raleigh City Council member Mary Black. Other demonstrations in support of Palestine, and Israel, have been held throughout the Triangle, including on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill.
Sunday’s rally, like several others that have taken place across the country since Oct. 7, are building up to a march being organized by national pro-Palestine groups in Washington, D.C. early next month.
The groups organizing that march plan to bring demonstrators from several major cities including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Atlanta. Organizers at Sunday’s rally said they had arranged for at least two buses to take more than a hundred people from Raleigh as well.
Many people who gathered in Moore Square on Sunday held up signs calling attention to the conditions in Gaza. One of them read: “A Palestinian child said, ‘I wish I was dead because I heard in heaven there is more food than here.’”
Other signs called for the U.S. to stop giving aid to Israel and repeated the common rallying cry, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which many Israelis consider to be a call for the elimination of the Jewish state.
This story was originally published October 22, 2023 at 7:01 PM.
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