By Youmna Sukkar
Boston University News Service
BOSTON – Palestinian organizers and allies came together in downtown Boston this week to deliver a letter in support of Palestinians to the offices of Massachusetts’ Senators.
The letter demanded the end of all U.S. military funding to Israel and that an investigation be held regarding how U.S. arms and funding may have influenced the “repression and displacement” of Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank. The letter also advocated for a bill introduced to the House which calls for defending the rights of Palestinian children and families living under Israeli occuption be moved through to the Senate.
Amassing over 1,200 signatures from over 30 advocacy and community organizations in the state, the letter was read aloud before being handed to members of the offices for Massachusetts Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren.
“This letter asks for respect for Palestinian human rights, Palestinian dignity, and a series of policy recommendations,” said Amar Ahmad, an organizer of the event and member of the advocacy group, Mass Peace Action. “I hope we can continue to come together and somehow work together for peace and justice in Palestine.”
Community activists and other supporters met outside the JFK Federal Building in Boston on Monday, a location with special meaning, according to organizers.
“The people who work here, some of whom have joined us today, have a lot of power,” said Lea Kayali, lead organizer of the event. “And the people in this building and in front of us here have the power to help stop [the Israeli apartheid].”
Susan Etscovitz, a member of the Jewish Voice for Peace’s (JVP) chapter organizing team, helped plan the rally with Mass Peace Action and emphasized how any contribution, no matter how impactful, can catalyze change.
“This Israeli regime will fall, hopefully,” Etscovitz said. “I think each step we take is a step closer to the eventuality that Palestinians will have equal footing in this world as human beings, as they deserve.”
Earlier this year, tensions between Palestinian militant group, Hamas, and Israeli forces erupted into violent conflict in May. The attacks, which disproportionately devastated Palestinian land and lives, saw a global surge in support of Palestinian people, as well as reignited debates on policy in the region.
Attendees welcomed guest speakers, including Fatema Ahmad, executive director of the Muslim Justice League, Jude Glaubman with the Alliance for Water Justice Palestine, and Devin Atallah, a Palestinian community organizer.
Clare Sheridan, a member of the New England Network with Justice for Palestine, came out because her “tax money, going to Israel, presses a group of people who have been in that neck of the woods for hundreds of years,” she said.
Others shared this sentiment, particularly members of JVP and the Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine. Flyers printed by each group were handed out pleading that the U.S. government spend its $3.8 billion tax dollars at home rather than sending it to Israel annually.
Before the crowd entered a chant of ‘Free, Free Palestine,’ Kayali left attendees with one final thought.
“We are not satisfied with small steps. We are not standing here and talking to you all for fun. We are here because we wrote and signed this letter, and we want you to listen to us because doing anything less than that is asking Palestinians to die quietly,” Kayali said. “We will free ourselves until the question remains: whose side are you on?”
While I think it’s important that there is more attention being brought to the Palestinian issue under brutal occupation, I do think it would be more informative and enriching to have an Israeli perspective too. There are definitely many Israelis that live in Boston and I can’t imagine it would be difficult to find someone to interview. Another note, I understand JVP was involved in the protest and it makes sense that they were in the article. Nevertheless, readers could get the misleading impression that a majority of American Jews feel the same as JVP in their positions. Most Jews actually fall in between center left organizations like J Street and center right like AIPAC. Most Jews support a two state solution but disagree on how to achieve it.