Minneapolis shuts down North Loop for Palestine

Minneapolis, MN — On May 17, the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC), American Muslims for Palestine — MN (AMP), and the Free Palestine Coalition held a march to remember Al Nakba. They were joined by more than 250 community members in a march that shut down several of Minneapolis’ busiest downtown arteries. The action was a part of the Anti-War Action Network’s week of action.

Nakba Day, the commemoration of Al Nakba, Arabic for “the catastrophe,” marks the 1948 expulsion of more than 750,000 Palestinians from their homes by militias that would later become the formal Israeli army.

Demonstrators marched with signs that read, “Victory to the Palestinian Resistance!” and “End the Nakba.” They carried a banner demanding “Trump: Hands off Gaza!”

While those in Minneapolis were commemorating Nakba Day by demanding an end to Israel’s apartheid laws and genocide in Gaza, Israel is currently carrying out a continuing Nakba. Hundreds have been massacred since Thursday, May 15, as Israel intensifies its aerial bombing and ground invasion in Gaza.

Speaking at Saturday’s march, Sana Wazwaz said, “I don’t want to give a speech today. The people of Gaza were saying their goodbyes the other night. And honestly, I’m sick of the sound of my own voice. But we’re here to say we’ve heard their goodbyes and yet Palestine will never say goodbye.” Wazwaz led the crowd in a series of call-and-response chants, the crowd responding with chants of “Never again!” as Wazwaz listed atrocities that have been carried out by the Israeli military.

The U.S. Palestinian Community Network-Minnesota (USPCN) was represented by Nadiyah Salawdeh, who emphasized that Israel’s crimes against humanity aren’t limited to Gaza. They described the apartheid conditions faced by Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank, including the 793 military checkpoints that Palestinians must navigate as they live their daily lives, the land theft that has accelerated in the West Bank since October 7, 2023, and the 40,000 Palestinians who have been driven from their homes in the West Bank in the past few months.

Salawdeh stated, “As genocide continues in Gaza, don’t turn away and forget the escalations happening in the West Bank. It’s no secret that what Israel is doing in Gaza, Israel hopes to one day do in the West Bank as well. We are here to remind you: the Nakba never ended. It has evolved, shifted, and changed, but the goal of the Israeli regime has always been the same: permanent displacement of the entire Palestinian people.”

Layna Crandell, a member of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee, spoke as a Jewish anti-Zionist, saying, “This genocide is our modern-day Holocaust. I could talk about how Jews can’t be safe while Palestine is under attack, until Palestine is free, but ultimately this isn’t about us. Our solidarity is with Palestinians and their liberation. Our solidarity is with Palestinian resistance, who have fought for decades for their people and land.”

Crandell continued, “It’s not just Netanyahu or Ben Gvir or Smotrich. Israel has been a strategic pawn for U.S. imperialism for decades and continues to exist through U.S. economic and material support. Israel has been a stable ally throughout the U.S.’s destabilization efforts in the Middle East in pursuit of their own economic interests. Israel has also allied with the U.S. through supplying weapons to paramilitaries and far right governments in Latin America, collaborating with apartheid states in Africa, and supporting U.S.– led invasions in Asia. The IDF even trains our own police!”

Vash Lamp of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) spoke on the necessity of the movement for immigrant rights standing up for Palestine. He summed up the sentiment of the demonstrators when he said, “My friend shared with us the posts made by Palestinians in Gaza sharing their final goodbyes, because they didn’t expect to make it through the night. In these times, it’s hard to remain hopeless when we have the means of forging the future that we’re fighting for. Despite how bad this week has been, I’m not feeling hopeless, I’m feeling like I want to fucking fight!”

Organizers ended the march by emphasizing the need for all those standing for justice in the U.S. to show solidarity across movements, calling for marchers to attend an upcoming demonstration against Trump’s empowerment of police departments.

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