WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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More than 200 members of the Bloomington community gathered at the Monroe County Courthouse this past Saturday evening in response to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Palestine.
Organized by “Jews Against Israeli Apartheid,” the “Free Palestine” rally featured passionate statements from local community members, live music and a diverse audience. Members of the crowd brought with them Palestinian flags, as well as signs displaying their support in phrases like “Free Palestine” and “Stop the Killing.”
Throughout the event, multiple speakers touched on the importance of recognizing and opposing the oppressive military and police action taken by Israel against Palestinian civilians.
“It was through an Israeli human rights organization that calls Israel an ‘apartheid regime,’ it was through them that I started using that term ‘apartheid’ and feeling comfortable with it…Shortly after B’Tselem, the leading human rights group in Israel, put out this report earlier this year, Human Rights Watch, the leading human rights organization in the world, put out an exhaustive report detailing Israeli apartheid and that’s the word we need to use. The more we say ‘Israeli apartheid’, the more it becomes normal to say the truth.”
Another speaker would go on to share the definition of the term ‘apartheid’ as “a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race.”
The B’Tselem and Human Rights Watch reports referenced by the speaker describe in greater depth the oppression and discrimination Palestinian civilians face every day.
Many of the speakers would go on to echo these points as they described the inhumane treatment of Palestinians at the hand of Israeli police and military action.
“There is indisputable, unequivocal evidence that Israel is committing crimes of apartheid and persecution, and no-one can look you in the face and deny that. No-one can look you in the face and say that Palestinians aren’t second-class citizens, and that’s when its the best position; most Palestinians aren’t even citizens… we can’t deny this fundamental truth.”
“Don’t forget that it’s in reaction to the blockade and the intense misery that Israel imposed on Gaza through this blockade, beginning right in the middle of the 2000s, that allowed Hamas to come into power. So if there are folks who are trying to criticize Hamas, you have to remind that what the source of Hamas’s power has been; the misery inflicted on Palestine by Israel.”
“Colonialism, enslavement, and all the other horrors that we are familiar with and know, had in fact been part of this hypocritical claim of taking civilization and light to the world… those hypocrites are the ones who are responsible for what is going on in places like Palestine.”
“Palestine, right now, is said to have about 6-7million people under care of the United Nations as refugees. How many billions, perhaps trillions, have been spent on keeping these people in prison? These refugee camps are no camps; they are in fact, prisons.”
With more than 3 billion dollars of taxpayer money pledged “in annual U.S. security assistance to Israel through FY 2028,” it is safe to say that the United States government is a significant source of Israel’s funding. This “security assistance,” is almost entirely used on behalf of the Israeli military, as was seen in 2019 when Israel spent over 99% of the $3.8billion they received in aid from the US on their military.
The rally was held just days after a ceasefire agreement had been reached between Israel and Palestinian militant group, Hamas.
This ceasefire announcement came in the wake of 11 days of escalation and violence during which “232 Palestinians in Gaza and 12 people in Israel have been killed,” however, one speaker warned that this is not a long-term solution to the violence.
“In 2014 we came here for the same reason… it’s a vicious cycle, just because there is a ceasefire doesn’t mean that the underlying problems have been solved… as long as there is occupation, as long as there is humiliation in Palestine, it is going to continue.”
Much of the success in the recent ceasefire negotiations has been attributed to the mobilization of people in support of Palestine all around the world.
One speaker touched on the shifts in public opinion that have allowed for these recent negotiations to be expedited.
“We need to tell politicians they need to hold Israel accountable… Israel was untouchable but things are changing for the better! Israel cannot get away with a lot of things it used to get away with and I think this is one of the reasons the bombings stopped… it took eight attempts in 2014 to arrive at a ceasefire… the world is coming to realize and Americans are coming to realize that they cannot support this injustice because the Israelis are using American weapons… if America said ‘no’ to Israel, it dare not defy America because it depends on America; it depends on our tax dollars… we need to tell the politicians that they need to oppose Israel when it does injustice, when it kills civilians, when it kills children…”
Another speaker emphasized the necessity of American public support for Palestine and the importance of standing in opposition to all instances of injustice.
“We should never conflate Jews and Israeli’s, we should avoid that… we have a tendency to do that. The people who defend Palestine the most, the people who are against Israeli policies, happen to be Jews. Jews stand with the Palestinians.”
“It’s imperative that we manifest our solidarity with Palestine tonight… we have to recognize that these events are not far away… our presence here tonight is imperative because of the involvement that the US has had in sureing up the state of Israel since its formation in 1948 and certainly since 1967.”
“Solidarity with Palestine is domestic issue, is about the ways in which US racism is translated in foreign policy, in local police practice, in all the places the US is involved in continuing colonial and neocolonial occupations as is certainly true in Gaza.”
While the complexities of international politics can at times be overwhelming, it is community events such as this recent Free Palestine rally in Bloomington that provide American citizens an opportunity to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and on the side of human rights.
“We can’t be free unless every human is free.”
