Sunday, December 3, 2023

Ceasefire Protest in Raleigh on Sunday (December 3) at 3 PM

 

For Immediate Release

 

North Carolinians Protest on Sunday to Demand an Immediate Cease-Fire by Israel!

 

Manzoor Cheema, 919-412-7008. Manzooracheema@gmail.com

Organizer with People’s Power Lab and Muslims for Social Justice

 

Rania Masri: 984-302-1782. Rania.z.masri@gmail.com

Co-Director at NC Environmental Justice Network

 

Protest for Ceasefire at Moore Square (210 Blount Street) in Raleigh.

When: Sunday, December 3. 3-5 pm

 

Since October 7, 2023, the lives of Palestinians, Muslims, and allies have been devastated by Israel's war on Gaza. To date, at least 15,000 in Gaza and the West Bank have been killed by Israel, approximately 40% of whom are children. The Israeli bombing has not spared civilians, doctors, journalists, and hospitals. Emergency relief has been denied, and water/electricity has been cut off. The US-based Center for Constitutional Rights has declared current Israel's war on Gaza as a "genocide."

 

On top of that, there has been a dramatic increase in Islamophobia and anti-Semitism in the USA. According to the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), there have been 1,283 incidents of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab attacks since October 7.

 

During the current crisis in the Middle East, our elected officials have hugely disappointed and betrayed our people. The US President and the Congress have refused calls for a ceasefire. The majority of the US Congress has censured Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian congress member, for her speech demanding a ceasefire. This is despite the fact that 80% of the Democratic electorate, 56% of Republican voters, and 66% of all voters support a ceasefire (source: Data for Progress).

 

Millions of people around the world and in the USA have protested against Israel's war on Gaza. The current war has exposed Israel's brutal occupation and apartheid regime that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions of people. As a result of the people's movement, the US Congress members have been shifting their position in favor of a ceasefire. While a handful of Congressmembers supported the ceasefire about a month ago, currently, 53 members of Congress call for a ceasefire by Israel's war on Gaza. Many cities across the country have passed ceasefire resolutions, including Detroit (MI), Atlanta (GA), Richmond (CA), Wilmington (DE), Akron (Ohio), and Carrboro, North Carolina.

 

Organizers in the Triangle area of North Carolina will organize a massive rally for ceasefire and Palestine Freedom on Sunday, December 3, at 3pm. This rally and march will take pale at Moore Square (210 Blount Street) in downtown Raleigh. We believe that Palestine is not a Palestinian or Muslim issue but a human rights issue. Jews, Christians, Muslims, atheists, anti-racism, worker rights, women's rights, and people of all backgrounds will join our rally to say "no" to the Israeli war on Gaza. Some of the organizations co-sponsoring our rally include Muslims for Social Justice, North Carolina Environmental Justice Network, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Refund Raleigh, Muslim Women For, Jewish Voice for Peace - Triangle, Migrant Roots Media, NC Green Party, Democratic Socialists of America, People's Power Lab and other organizations.

 

We demand that Wake County-based congressional representatives Deborah Ross and Wiley Nickel support the call for a permanent ceasefire. We also demand the City of Raleigh to pass a resolution for a ceasefire and ban future police exchanges with Israel. Durham, NC, was the first city in the country to ban such exchanges in 2018. We look forward to working with partners and allies for a permanent ceasefire, ending US military aid to Israel, and ending racism and inequality at home. We believe all of our struggles are interconnected. In the words of Fannie Lou Hamer, “Nobody's free until everybody’s free!”

Saturday, October 14, 2023

End Israel's Racist Siege and Genocidal Bombing of Gaza

All out for Palestine! End Israel’s Racist Siege & Genocidal Bombing of Gaza! Demand a ceasefire, an end to the occupation, an end to the apartheid!

Press Contacts:

  • Manzoor Cheema

  • Rania Masri   


Sunday, October 15, 4-6 pm; Moore Square Park, Raleigh, NC

Palestinian community members, friends, and allies will gather in Moore Square Park to demand an end to the Israeli apartheid regime’s illegal and brutal bombardment of Gaza, an end to the continued colonization and occupation of Palestine, and an end to billions of US taxpayer dollars funding horrific war crimes against the Palestinian people. 

“We are seeing a genocide unfold before our eyes – with the open support of the US President and Congress! The Israeli military proudly boasted that it has dropped 6,000 bombs on the Gaza Strip in just a few days – nearly matching the number of bombs the US dropped on Afghanistan in one year! Need we remember: Afghanistan is 1,800 times larger than the besieged Gaza strip!  More than 2,300 Palestinians, including more than 700 children, have been slaughtered and 700,000 have been displaced,” said Rania Masri. “A children’s hospital had to be evacuated because the Israeli military bombed it with white phosphorus (an illegal chemical weapon). Other hospitals are threatened.  Hospitals - threatened. Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary called progressive congress members who have called for a ceasefire “disgraceful” and “repugnant.” It is genocide that is repugnant!”

Israel’s siege against Gaza did not begin last week—Palestinians have been murdered, brutalized, and displaced since the 1948 Nakba, a catastrophic ethnic cleansing that concretized Israel as a colonial project. Despite facing over 75 years of egregious human rights violations at the hands of Israel and the United States, Palestinians have remained steadfast in their fight for freedom.

The Israeli war on Gaza, and Palestine as a whole, is entirely connected to our struggle for social justice here in the US. “In addition to billions of dollars in military equipment sent to Israel every year, the U.S. also engages in police exchanges where US law enforcement work with Israeli occupation forces to train in tactics of brutalization and oppression. Raleigh’s own police chief, Cassandra Deck-Brown, went on a training program to Israel in 2017, and it is no surprise that Raleigh PD has since murdered Black and brown young people and engaged in extreme racial profiling and brutality," said Manzoor Cheema, a member of Muslims for Social Justice. "We are building a grassroots movement to end oppression against not only Palestinians but also Black, Brown, working class, and all impacted people in the USA since all of our struggles are interconnected. We demand an end to the blockade of Gaza, the Israeli policies of apartheid, and the US using our tax-payer dollars to finance a genocide.” 

The Raleigh-area community will stand unwavering in support of the Palestinian people on Sunday, October 15 and onward. We will mobilize our communities to lock arms with each other and demand an end to the siege on Gaza and all oppressed people all over the world!

Co-Sponsors of Rally:

Party for Socialism and Liberation

Muslims for Social Justice

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

Voices for Justice in Palestine

Refund Raleigh

Migrant Roots Media

Workers World Party

Triangle Democratic Socialists of America

People's Power Lab 

North Carolina Green Party