Seattle marches to end the siege on Gaza

Seattle, WA – On August 17, more than 300 Seattleites came together in Westlake Plaza to march against Israel’s U.S.-backed siege of Gaza. The march was organized by Seattle Against War (SAW), Nidal, and bil-Yad.

After listening to speeches from organizers with bil-Yad, Healthcare Workers 4 Palestine, Seattle Families 4 Palestine, and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the crowd took over the street and marched several blocks to the nearby building of Boston Consulting Group, key architects of the GHF “aid” sites where Gazans have been lured seeking aid only to be massacred by the Israeli military and mercenaries.

A member of Nidal in Seattle condemned Boston Consulting Group, saying, “In this city, in this city of Seattle, of industry, we host the architects of genocide, from our tech companies to the profiteering Boston Consulting Group that is responsible for the murder of nearly 2000 Palestinians and the injuries of nearly 14,000 others who were simply seeking food to feed their families.”

But, speaking on the Palestinian tradition of al-Ouna, which translates to mutual aid, the speaker emphasized that “Palestine remains. It remains as a school of revolution and a beacon of resistance. It is not a conquered land, but a beating heart of liberation for every stone in al-Quds whispers our history. Let me be clear: they can jail our bodies, but never our spirit. They can bomb our homes, but never our history. They can starve our people, but never our resolve.”

The march ended in front of Boston Consulting Group’s building in downtown Seattle. Protesters threw fistfuls of flour at the building in recognition of the fact that a single kilogram of flour in Gaza costs $100 or more as the siege has Gazans surviving on an average of 250 calories per day. Protesters also flung fake blood on the building’s steps in recognition of the thousands of Palestinians murdered by the Israeli military at so-called “aid” distribution sites.

The event concluded with speeches from Nidal, Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return (SUPER), and Seattle Against War (SAW).

Aida Amirul, speaking for SAW stated, “I want to remind you that in our very own movement for a free Palestine, spanning decades and generations, all over the world, we have won many times over against our enemies because of organizations with strategic campaigns, effective internal structures, and hard-working members to put in the time and effort.”

The large march represented an uptick in Seattle organizing around Palestine in recent months, and its success was thanks to the tireless organizing of Nidal, bil-Yad, and SAW members.

The messaging of the march called for escalation in the face of Israel’s further intensification of the genocide in Gaza. A spirit of mass militancy was prevalent in the signs and chants, which included “Death, death to the IOF!” and “There is only one solution – Intifada, revolution!”

In their speech, Dre Say, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, stated, “The contradiction between the oppressed nations, like Palestine, and the imperialists is the most important contradiction in the world today. The Palestinian struggle for national liberation and self-determination is the flash point for all progressive struggles, from the Black Belt South in the United States to the Philippines and beyond. As Anas al-Sharif said in his last will before he was assassinated by the Israeli military, ‘I entrust you with Palestine – the jewel in the crown of the Muslim world, the heartbeat of every free person in this world.’ We carry Anas al-Sharif in our hearts today,” and mentioned the “likely hundreds of thousands of people who have been killed in Palestine. We are honored to carry forward the struggle for a free Palestine right here in the belly of the beast, and we will not stop, we will not rest until Palestine is free.”

Since the election of Donald Trump as U.S. President, Seattle Palestine organizing has seen an ebb in its momentum, but the march organized by Nidal, bil-Yad, and SAW shows that Seattle has not forgotten the genocide in Gaza, and there are many here still desperately searching for ways to plug in and organize for Palestinian national liberation.

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