On Wednesday, July 19, more than 700 people gathered in front of the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles to defend the Palestinian and Lebanese people, who are under a brutal and racist attack by the U.S.-backed Israeli military machine.
Photo: Christen Westberry
and Jose Villa
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The protest was initiated by the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), the National Council of Arab Americans, the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation and many other progressive organizations. Hundreds of people have been killed as a result of Israel’s actions over the past week, overwhelmingly civilians.
People militantly chanted “From Lebanon to Palestine, occupation is a crime!” Within an hour, one street corner was not enough to contain the demonstrators. People marched with flags of Palestine and Lebanon across the street to take two more corners of the busy LA intersection. Protesters completely surrounded the small Zionist presence, which numbered around 60. A successful picket line of about 300 progressives marched continuously for two hours until the early evening when a rally concluded the successful demonstration.
The first speaker of the rally was Muna Coobtee of the ANSWER Coalition and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. We also heard from Husam Abu-Sneineh, who represented the National Council of Arab Americans, James Lafferty of the National Lawyers Guild and Sabiha Ameen of the Muslim Students Association at UCLA.
The demonstration brought out a multinational crowd to stand together against the U.S.-Israeli war on Lebanon and Palestine. The Party for Socialism and Liberation will continue to organize with its partners in the ANSWER Coalition to demand an end to colonial occupation and criminal wars for capitalist profit in the Middle East and everywhere. On Aug. 12, thousands of people will unite in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and San Francisco for a coordinated day of mass marches to defeat the U.S.-Israeli offensive.
