Hundreds rally in Southern California to end the Gaza siege

On June 6, over 200 people gathered in Anaheim, Orange County, to protest the U.S.-backed Israeli siege of Gaza. The protest coincided with the 42nd anniversary of the 1967 war that seized 22 percent of Palestinian land, including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.







 
Southern California stands with Gaza

Today, Israel occupies over 80 percent of Palestinian land while Zionists continue to build more and more settlements and annex more and more land. Gaza has been under siege ever since the election of Hamas in 2006. In December of 2008, Israel initiated a ground invasion that killed over 1,400 Palestinians, many of them women and children. Months after the invasion, Gaza remains under siege, leaving them unable to get necessary medical supplies and construction materials.


The Anaheim protest was coordinated with action across the United States. It came at the same time as Obama’s visit to the so-called Muslim world. Although Obama’s call for an end to settlement building in Palestine seems different than the Bush administration, it is merely a tactical shift. He has made it clear that there will be no substantial changes to U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. This means the continued aid for Israel in the amount of over three billion dollars a year.


Because Obama only represents a new face of U.S. imperialism, the solidarity actions in Anaheim and across the country remain the most effective way to fight back. At the protest, there were people from many backgrounds and of many ages. Among the action’s sponsors were the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), Free Palestine Alliance, Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, National Council of Arab Americans, Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, Council of American-Islamic Relations-L.A., Palestinian American Women’s Association, Party for Socialism and Liberation, St. Anselm Church in Garden Grove and Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines.


Protesters chanted “Free, Free Palestine, Long Live Palestine!” and held signs calling for the end of U.S. funding of Israeli genocide and the end of the Gaza siege. A brief rally chaired by PSL member Muna Coobtee featured speakers, including Dr. Mustafa Barghouti from Palestine, Muslim and Christian clergy, Iraq war veteran Michael Prysner of March Forward!, Husam Abu-Sneineh of FPA and others.


The crowd’s composition showed that the U.S. solidarity movement is continuing to grow, drawing new activists to the struggle. Lorain, 22, who traveled from San Diego to attend the protest, told PSLweb.org that she came to “fight for the self-determination and liberation of the Palestinians.”

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