Over 1,000 protest at “Day of Action for Palestine” in Milwaukee

“Day of Action for Palestine” in Milwaukee March 2 (Photo by Omar Waheed)

More protests in Wisconsin calling for a ceasefire in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict drew out the largest crowd yet in the state for a “Day of Action for Palestine” in Milwaukee March 2.

Over 1,000 people came out to the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, 4707 S. 13th St., to continue protesting for a ceasefire in Gaza organized by the Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine. The Day of Action for Palestine drew out the largest crowd yet for any ceasefire protest in Wisconsin, more than doubling Madison’s biggest protest in Dec. 2023.

“We have to stand for the people of Gaza because, unfortunately, most people, most governments around the world are not standing up for anyone, and they’re allowing a genocide to take place before their eyes,” said Othman Atta, executive director of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee. “So we are going to be the conscience of the world because we want a free Palestine.”

Othman Atta speaks at “Day of Action for Palestine” in Milwaukee
(Photo by Omar Waheed)

Atta drew attention to failures to prevent the ongoing massacre of Palestinians in Gaza. He parallels the current conflict to the Nakba in 1948 calling it “Nakba two.” During the Nakba of 1948, the estimated death toll of Palestinians was 15,000 over the course of multiple massacres.

The current conflict in Gaza, which has been ongoing since Oct. 7, 2023, has surpassed 30,000 deaths according to the Gaza Ministry of Health’s latest figure from Feb. 29.

The protest started with roughly 600 people at the Islamic Society of Milwaukee. When the march started down West Layton Avenue, more protesters steadily flocked to the group to make it over 1,000 strong.

“I think it’s reflective with how many people are asking for an end to this genocide,” said Janan Najeeb with the Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine. “Most normal people are not okay with genocide, especially when it’s involving women and children and I think that to just see the massive diversity of the people that are here shows that this is not a Palestinian issue. This is not a Muslim issue … this is a human issue.”

Protestors marched for a bit under a mile between the Islamic Society of Milwaukee and its community center at 815 W. Layton Ave. where Day of Action for Palestine capped off with an International Women’s Day Celebration.

March 2, 2024
Poor Peoples’ Campaign Assembly at the Capitol

We are forming a Kuffiyeh Contingent
Meet at 10:30 am
State Street Entrance steps

Please join us for a Free Palestine contingent. Wear Kuffiyehs and bring along your signs and banners calling for a ceasefire and an end to US weapons funding for Israel. Look for us under the Palestinian flags on the State Street steps to the Capital at 10:30, or during the march whenever you arrive.

The Poor People’s Campaign is sponsoring a simultaneous day of direct action at statehouses all across the country whose aim is to bring together thousands of poor and low-wealth people and their allies to demand a moral agenda from our lawmakers at the state level. Their invitation: “Let’s join together to demand living wages, voting rights, healthcare, fully-funded public education, a healthy environment, clean water, affordable and decent housing, an end to the war economy, militarism and genocide, an end to poverty, and MORE!”

Israel’s bill to U.S. taxpayers for their assault on Gaza and continuing occupation of the West Bank is on track to be $18 billion for 2023 and early 2024.  That’s $3.8 billion in annual aid, plus a $14.5 billion supplemental package before Congress.

Here’s what we’re buying:  Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has killed over 30,000 people in 5 months, including 12,660 children.  Israel is now preparing to invade Rafah, a 25 square mile area at the southern end of Gaza where 1.5 million people are now sheltering in hospitals, schools and tents. Please join us in demanding that US funding for Israel’s military be redirected to human needs and insist that the Biden administration call for No Ground Invasion of Rafah.

Learn more and join us in Madison




March 1, 2024
WORT has two guests on Gaza


12 Noon, 89.9 FM or listen live online

Host Esty Dinur will interview two guests on Gaza: 

Shafiq Kassees of UW Students for Justice in Palestine will talk about the recent lecture by an Israeli soldier in UW Chabad in which he admitted that the Israeli military kills babies and called Palestinians “the devil.”

Thaer Ahmad, MD, a board certified emergency medicine physician at Advocate Christ Medical Center who also serves as that center’s Assistant Program Director for the Emergency Medicine Residency Program and the Global Health Director for the emergency department.  An Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Illinois, and board member of MedGlobal, a medical humanitarian NGO that works in Gaza, Dr. Ahmad has been to Gaza, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Kenya, and Greece on projects to strengthen local healthcare capacity.

March 1, 2024
Emergency Day of Action for Rafah


With Israel threatening to compound its assault on Gaza with a ground invasion of Rafah in the coming weeks, we are responding to this international call and organizing an emergency Day of Action for Rafah.

Rafah Governate is a tiny, 25 square mile area smaller than the west side of Madison (see map above). With a prior population of about 175,000, it is now sheltering approximately 1.4 million Palestinians fleeing Israel’s scorched-earth war. The UN and other international humanitarian organizations are sounding the alarm about the absolutely catastrophic carnage that would result from a full-scale assault on Rafah and the surrounding area.

Just today the Netanyahu government announced that they plan to invade Rafah whether conditions that they had previously set are met or not.

The purpose of the March 1 Day of Action is to focus public attention on Rafah, educate Madison on the reality of how small Rafah is, how densely inhabited it currently is, along with a call to action to call the Biden White House paired with a suggested script.

There will be multiple actions throughout the day, including banner drops over the Beltline, sidewalk chalking and leafleting on the UW campus, a social media campaign, press outreach, and leafleting Madison.

We need volunteers for the banner drops over the Beltline during the morning (7:15-8:30am) and afternoon (4:15-5:30pm) rush hours, as well as leafleting and chalking on the UW campus during the lunch hour (12:30-2:30), and posting flyers

Sign Up Online!

CAN’T COME ON FRIDAY?
 
CALL THE WHITE HOUSE AT 202-456-1111 AND DEMAND THAT BIDEN STOP ISRAEL’S ASSAULT (as well as halting all military aid to Israel, implementing a permanent ceasefire, and allowing entry of massive humanitarian aid into Gaza).

Read Palestine! Book Clubs

The Read Palestine! project, supported by Madison Rafah Sister City Project, is hosting book clubs for 4th – 12th graders. Please fill out this form if you’re interested in participating. Meeting times, format and next books to read will be decided by the group once it has formed. Different grade levels will read different books:

4th-5th: Farah Rocks Summer Break by Susan Muaddi Darraj
6th-8th: Ida in the Middle by Nora Lester Murad
9th-12th: They Called Me Lioness by Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri

February 24, 2024
Reading of Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine

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Kismet Books
101 N. Main Street, Verona
10:30 am

February 23, 2024
Madison Congressional Office Visits

World BEYOND War

12-2:00 pm Sen Baldwin’s office, 30 W Mifflin Street
2:00 pm walk to Rep Pocan’s office
2:15 pm Rep Pocan’s office, 10 E Doty St, #405

 
Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriation Bill

After passing the US Senate with Sen. Baldwin’s YES vote, the $95 billion gift to the weapons industry is going to the House; this is a supplement to our $886 billion dollar 2024 military budget already approved.

CodePink explains:

    “The Senate bill includes another $14.3 billion for weapons for Israel’s genocide in Gaza, $60 billion to continue the war in Ukraine (bringing that total to $170 billion) and almost $8 billion to further militarize east Asia for a confrontation with China. The bill also includes $9 billion in humanitarian aid to be split between Ukraine, Israel and Gaza; In other words; a few sips of water before the bombing resumes.

    As if that isn’t bad enough, the Senate bill also includes a prohibition against US funding for UNRWA, the lifeline for water and food to Gaza, to threaten mass starvation for over two million people. Finally, there’s a provision that allows President Biden to send unlimited weapons to Israel without the legally-required notification to Congress.”

Rep. Pocan has previously voted against this supplemental bill. We will visit his office and ask him to continue to oppose it. As for Sen. Baldwin, we’ll visit her office again to continue to condemn her votes that fund murderous policies; deaf and blind to the genocide, she continues to promote the defense industry as an economic boon for Wisconsin. What a racket! Can you join us?

RSVP if you can to warabolition@gmail.com, or just show up for any part; and to access Baldwin’s office during the time of vigil, you can call 608 217 2248.

February 19-24, 2024
Stand for Peace! Free Palestine!

Money for People’s Needs not Endless U.S. Wars!

Actions Across Wisconsin Feb. 19-24, 2024 (Eau Claire, La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee, Racine, Viroqua)

Madison, Wisconsin Feb. 10, 2024. / Photo: Wisconsin Bail Out The People Movement

Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement, February 18, 2024

MADISON – Mon. Feb. 19, 12 noon to 1 p.m. – Monday Noon Vigil for Peace – Meet at the corner of MLK, Jr. Blvd and Doty St. in Madison. For more information, call Tim at 608-630-3633.

MADISON – Tuesday, Feb. 20. Library Mall at 3 P.M. Save Rafah! – Sponsored by Students for Justice in Palestine at UW Madison.

LA CROSSE
Thurs. Feb. 22, 12 noon to 12:30 p.m. – Weekly Women in Black Peace Vigil. Meet at Main St & 4th Street South. A weekly vigil for peace every Thursday. Contact Deborah. dbuffton@yahoo.com

EAU CLAIRE
Fri. Feb. 23, 5 to 6 p.m. Monthly Peace Stand. Meet at Trunk and Golf Road, Wisconsin 93. The third Friday of each month is Peace Stand time in Eau Claire, going on since 2004. We gather with, we visit one another and sometimes we sing. Stand and be counted. Mark Helpsmeet is with Northern Spirit Radio, a member group of WNPJ. Contact for more information: helpsmeet@usa.net

MILWAUKEE
Sat. Feb. 24, 12 noon to 1 p.m. – Peace Action WI Weekly STAND for PEACE. Each Saturday, a different location. Today meet at Howell and Howard. Join us. Bring your signs. info@peaceactionwi.org

VIROQUA
Sat. Feb. 24, 11 a.m. to 12 noon – Driftless Palestinian Solidarity Weekly Vigil. Meet at Decker and Main. Action Alert: The Driftless Palestinian Solidarity group has a petition to demand that Senators Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and end financial aid to Israel’s military. If your group is interested in getting signatures, please email driftless.solidarity@gmail.com. Thank you for your help!

RACINE
Sat. Feb. 24, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. – Weekly Stand for Peace. 909 Dr. Martin Luther King Dr. Supported by the Racine Coalition for Peace and Justice. We have signs, banners and flags available for all. Check out our website: http://racinepeace.wordpress.com for weather concerns.