More than 200 people gathered Friday afternoon in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood for a rally in support of Palestinians.
At the start of the rally, Deena Eldaour, an organizer with the University of Pittsburgh’s Students for Justice in Palestine, said the event was not pro-Hamas and condemned violence.
“I choose justice and love rather than hate,” Eldaour said, adding, “We do not stand for antisemitism.”
Homes of friends and family have been destroyed by bombs, she said, noting that hundreds of Palestinian and Israeli civilians have been killed in the past six days.
Eldaour also called for Israel to “end the siege” and for the United States to “end its assistance of the violence in Gaza.”
“We’re here today for the innocent civilian lives that were lost,” she said.
The demonstration came nearly a week after Hamas, the Arabic acronym for "Islamic Resistance Movement," launched an attack on Israel from Gaza, which it governs. Early last Saturday morning, during a Jewish holiday, the group fired thousands of rockets on Israeli border towns, killing 1,200 Israelis, including children, and taking at least another 100 people hostage.
Israel declared war in response and has pounded Gaza with airstrikes that have leveled entire neighborhoods, killing at least 1,900 Palestinians, including children. Israel has also blocked delivery of food, fuel, electricity and water to Gaza, sparking a humanitarian crisis in one of the most densely populated places on earth.
Christine Mohamed, the executive director of Pittsburgh’s Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Friday’s event was not meant to “scare, terrorize or harm our Jewish brothers and sisters.”
“It's aggravating to me. And I take it personally because I do have Jewish friends that I love dearly. When this city faced a tragedy and we witnessed a mass shooting in our backyard, we surrounded our Jewish brothers and sisters,” Mohamed said, referring to the mass shooting in which 11 Jewish worshippers were killed at a Pittsburgh synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018.
“We can support the pain that they have been through, and that obviously is in two weeks,” she added, before asking the crowd to take a moment of silence.
Miracle Jones, another speaker, said “This humanitarian violation must end.” She asked attendees to contact their elected officials and share their support for Palestinians.
Others told stories of relatives they lost in the bombings and said they are awaiting responses from relatives in Gaza, uncertain if they were still alive or if they had power.
Participants in the “Day of Action for Palestine” marched down Forbes Avenue towards Carnegie Mellon University, where they stopped to listen to speakers before heading back to Schenley Plaza. Many carried Palestinian flags and wore scarves decorated with the flag’s colors. They chanted phrases such as “free Palestine” and held signs with such sayings as “Resistance against occupation is a human right” and “Stop killing Gazans.”
In 2005, Israel “disengaged” from Gaza and withdrew 8,500 Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip. Israel continues to control Gaza’s borders and airspace.
The demonstration was peaceful. One man tried to enter the circle of gatherers but was quickly turned away and mostly ignored.
“This is a human rights matter,” Eldaour said towards the end of the event. “This matters to everyone, not just Palestinians.”
