“Besides the overwhelming number of dedicated younger activists was the support of Black and brown communities who said, ‘We’re with you in this fight.’ One of the speakers said, “When we were down, the Palestinians reached out to us. It showed the strength of coalition building. There were speakers from indigenous organizations, Asian and Pan-African communities, Black leaders—it was really pretty amazing!”

“One of the biggest encouragements to me was seeing a huge demonstration of hundreds of thousands with very similar demands,” Haitham said. “Another thing that is worth mentioning was the deep distrust myself and some others felt towards the political elite and the Democratic machine. There is no way I would vote for a Democrat who is not calling for a ceasefire or who is dehumanizing the Palestinians. They make us look bloodthirsty rather than people who have been fighting for their freedom for 75 years. “Everyone cheered loudly when people shouted, ‘Our vote no more.’”

“I can’t abide the Republican part with every ounce of my being,” Rebecca said, “but there is no way I can fathom voting for ‘Genocide Joe’ or even Tammy Baldwin. I actually canceled my recurring donation.”

“There’s no way these guys are getting our money or our votes,” Haitham added. “In fact, I will actively do what I can to campaign against them. Tell your readers Genocide Joe is coming to Chicago on Nov. 9 and people will be there protesting, just like they protested when he came to the Twin Cities last week. We want to keep the pressure on these people. We can’t just raise the flag and go home.”

“I’ve been thinking about what else I can do, including writing to my representatives in Congress, knowing they will ignore it. But I think it needs to be on record that they are hearing from people,” Rebecca said. “I had a conversation with one of the women on the bus about how it can be scary to talk about Palestine with others who may respond with ignorant or even racist comments. But the more I see these images of what people (in Gaza) are going through, I have decided it is ok if I’m a little uncomfortable in conversations. I know I have avoided them in the past but I have a lot of privilege to be able to have these conversations without worrying about a job or other repercussions. If I lose a friend, maybe it wasn’t a friend I needed.”

From Franklin to Washington, D.C.

Photo by Khaled Abukhamireh

Khaled Abukhamireh, 52, of Franklin is a member of the Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine, the Islamic Society of Milwaukee and other organizations concerned about peace and justice. He, his brother Munem Abukhamireh and sister Sahera Abukhamireh decided to book a flight Saturday morning from Chicago to Washington, D.C. 

They drove from Franklin at 3:30 a.m. to fly out of Chicago O’Hare at 7 a.m. About two hours later, they landed at Reagan International Airport and headed to Freedom Plaza. Khaled had been to a protest at the Capitol in 2002, during the second Intifada, a Palestinian uprising that began in 2000 after Israeli leader Ariel Sharon made a provocative visit to Al Aqsa in Jerusalem.

“This one seemed a lot bigger,” Abukamireh said. “There was a sense of urgency. People are asking for quick action. We need a stop to the genocide.”

He recalled a young mother protesting with a tiny baby in a pouch. “She thought this was urgent enough to bring her baby. She had a duty,” he said. “Seeing this kind of passion makes me want to do more.”

“The West Bank is extremely dangerous now,” Abukamireh said. “The situation is that the Palestinian people there are completely disarmed and the (Israeli) settlers are very armed and they are backed by the army. It is very concerning.”

Abukhamireh came from Janin in the West Bank to the U.S. about 30 years ago. In 1993, after the first Intifidaended, I had just finished high school. The colleges in the West Bank were closed and there were no opportunities for me. My mother still lives there. I also have a brother and his family and a sister and her family there.”

Abukhamireh had planned to be in the West Bank now, helping his 84-year-old mother. “Most of my family is outside the country and we take turns helping our mother.”

A software architect, he had taken a family medical leave from work and had a flight for Oct. 30 but he learned from the airlines that his flight to Tel Aviv was canceled. His mother had scheduled some medical procedures but those were also canceled. It was the first time he was to fly to Tel Aviv; Israel had not allowed Palestinians until this year, even those with U.S. citizenship, to fly to Tel Aviv.

The protest in Washington, D.C., was “extremely important because of its timing because of the elections,” he said. “A lot of Americans at large, not just the Palestinian community, are very concerned. If this genocide continues, there will be no vote for Biden. That’s the message I got from a lot of people.”

Today is like 1948, he added, except instead of hearing about genocide, massacres and ethnic cleansing, “we are seeing it on live television with more powerful bombs,” he said. “That’s why everybody at the protest felt the sense of urgency. That’s Number One—to stop it immediately. There is no time.”

The protest has inspired Abukhamireh to be more active not only for the Palestinians but for all those fighting other just causes, he said. The crowd who came out for the Palestinians was very diverse and it was appreciated, he said. We need to be there for each other.

New York to Washington, D.C.

Photo by Yaseen Najeeb

“As fate would have it, I had already planned a trip to visit some friends in New York last month,” said Yaseen Najeeb, 25, a member of the Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine. Najeeb and his friends rented a car and drove the five hours to Washington, D.C., from Brooklyn. “One of my favorite moments was being in standstill traffic at the Delaware toll booth, hearing Palestinian songs blasting on people’s car radios, and people waving their keffiyehs and Palestinians scarves outside their windows.” 

Asked why he left his vacation to go to the protests, Najeeb said, “I want to first acknowledge I am privileged and able to attend protests. I’m fortunate to not have any dependents who rely on me should I lose my job for advocating for Palestine (which is, unfortunately, a reality for many), and it was financially feasible for me to attend. 

“Simply put, I have a moral obligation to stand up and speak out — especially as so many Palestinian voices are being silenced. For 75 years, the Palestinians have been crying out the injustices Israel waged against them and the world would not listen. 

“Now, Israel has entered their final stage of the military settler-colonial project: genocide. As Americans, we must staunchly condemn these atrocities for the sheer fact that we are funding this genocide.” 

Once at Freedom Plaza, Najeeb “couldn’t see the end or start of the protest from where I was marching,” he said. He saw “parents marching with their babies in strollers, elders, veterans, Queer individuals, Sikh people, Christians, Jews, indigenous communities, Black communities, the Latinx community and countless young people … chanting, ‘The people united will never be defeated.’”

Najeeb said he hopes “besides showing our brothers and sisters in Palestine we see them, we hear them and we will fight for them, we hope this puts pressure on the government to call for a ceasefire and an end to the genocide. 

“And this is just the beginning. Our job is done when Palestine is free.”