Editor’s note: This is an opinion piece about a student’s experience attending a protest. This piece does not reflect the opinion or views of The Pace Press.
On Monday, Oct. 7, the Within Our Lifetime (WOL) organization, a Palestinian-led group, scheduled a large protest against what they say is an ongoing genocide being carried out by the Israeli government.
These protesters used Wall Street as a meeting point, with hundreds of people forming a circle around the entire area. Once the crowd had grown big enough, a speaker began addressing the group and explaining the reasons behind the protest while criticizing the U.S. Government’s involvement in the conflict. The speaker emphasized that American tax dollars are being used to fund these horrific acts and called on protestors to reject the heavily propagandized narratives being perpetuated by American media outlets and government officials to justify internationally recognized war crimes.
Despite the size of the crowd, protestors directed their full attention to the speaker, repeating everything they said to ensure everyone could hear. What stood out to me about this protest was the composure and organization the entire time, despite the protest tackling such a divisive topic. Multiple speakers took the mic, each receiving the same level of attention as the last. They encouraged the protesters not to engage with Zionist counter-protesters, who heckled and attempted to provoke reactions.
WOL is an organization whose roots lie right here in the city. Since 2015, they have been organizing and mobilizing and have gradually grown their movement. Their primary focus is on educating the public on the struggles Palestinians have faced since 1948, diving into the history of racial oppression and segregation Palestinians have faced at the hands of the Israeli government. WOL has experienced exponential growth within the past year as American media outlets increasingly get more involved in this issue, drawing more attention than ever to the social movement.
At no point during the protest did I witness any form of aggression from the protesters; rather, it was the counter-protesters who were there in support of Zionism and Israel. At one point during the protest, a large Palestinian flag was laid out across the street, and Muslim protesters took the opportunity to pray on the flag, removing their shoes and getting onto their knees. During this moment of prayer, the rest of the protesters were silent, giving those praying the respect they deserved. This silence was short-lived as counter-protesters took this opportunity to chant “death to Hamas” as well as “death to Hezbollah” disrupting the prayer. The ignorance of Zionism is revealed through these chants, where you can see the disconnect, as many people took time to pray for the innocent Palestinians being subjected to awful conditions, living in fear of a genocidal occupational force.
These two terrorist organizations have nothing to do with the innocent Palestinian Civilians, nor do they have any association with the protest as well as the social movement that organized the event. Through this lens, we can see the racism embedded within Zionism, associating terrorism with the people of Palestine as a whole. As Americans, we should be familiar with this phenomenon as we are still dealing with the effects of Islamophobic views arising post-9/11. After 9/11, there was a rampant dehumanization of Muslim and Middle Eastern people, as well as an unjust racial prejudice that associated all these people with terrorism. Due to the impact of these events, citizens are quick to be thrown into the fatal mentality of “us vs. them,” vilifying the marginalized groups who are unjustly held responsible for the actions of others simply due to their race, ethnicity or religion.
