Thousands got together in major cities across the US over the weekend to support Palestinians as the death toll mounts as Israel’s military launches massive airstrikes on Gaza.
According to the region’s authority, Monday marked the deadliest day in Gaza, with more than 52 killed. Since the violence broke out last week, Israeli airstrikes has killed more than 200 Palestinians, and more than 1,500 people have been injured. The dead include 61 children, the ministry said.
About 10 Israelis have died as an outcome of Hamas rocket fire, the Israeli Defense Forces said.
Other segments of the region have seen violence, too. Jerusalem has been tense for several weeks, with Palestinians angered over the shut down of a holy mosque just as Ramadan was approaching, and as a yearslong legal battle to withdraw seven Palestinian families from their hometowns in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah, appeared set to end in forced displacement.
Earlier this week, Israeli police entered the third holiest site for Muslims– Al Aqsa Mosque– and attacked Palestinians inside, firing stun grenades while Palestinians threw stones. The following clashes there and in other parts of the neighbourhood left hundreds of Israeli police officers and Palestinians injured. Palestinian soldiers in Gaza joined the fight by launching rockets into Israel, which responded with a hail of airstrikes.
Protests throughout the United States in support of Palestinians stretched from New York to California over the weekend. Sunday marked the 72nd anniversary of “the catastrophe,” or “al-Nakba” — when more than 700,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes during the war that created the state of Israel.
Some marched and chanted through megaphones, and others showed up with handmade signs. But regardless of their rebellion style, their message remained the same: to stand in support of the Palestinian community.
Protesters occupied the steps leading to the doors of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which appeared in a famous scene from the movie “Rocky.”
