By Mia Khatib
mia.khatib@triangletribune.com
RALEIGH — Since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the Israeli government’s ongoing bombardment on Gaza, Palestinian solidarity protests have been taking place worldwide. Around 3,000 people have rallied at Moore Square in downtown Raleigh the past two weekends to end the siege on Gaza and occupation of Palestine as a whole.
The Oct. 22 protest was sponsored by 30 organizations, including North Carolina Black Leadership and Organizing Collective, and Black Workers for Justice. Raleigh City Council member Mary Black spoke out, voicing support for Palestinians and highlighting parallels between Black and Palestinian liberation.
“I know what it feels like to have a settler colonial nation commit generational atrocities against your people, and then rewrite history to sweep everything under the rug,” she said. “Too many people in the West have been fooled into believing you either stand with Israel or you stand with terrorists.”
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 5,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel so far, and the Israeli Ministry of Health reported over 1,400 Israelis have been killed by Hamas, mostly during the initial attack. Gaza remains cut off from food, water and fuel supplies from Israel.
Black said this kind of racist rhetoric by U.S. government officials and the media has given the international community “a false sense of moral cover” to deny the United Nations resolutions for an immediate ceasefire and to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, which is nearly 10 square miles smaller than Raleigh and home to more than 2 million people.
And while Americans have long been divided on Palestine and Israel, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently warned Islamophobic and antisemitic hate crimes are expected to rise. On Oct. 16, a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy was stabbed to death by his Chicago landlord in what local police said was a targeted attack.
Brea Perry, of Refund Raleigh, also advocated for Raleigh to follow Durham’s lead in banning police training in Israel, where she said local officers learn “how to more effectively brutalize Black people.” With more than $3 billion from taxpayers going to Israel annually, Perry urged residents to call on their representatives to end U.S. arming and funding of the Israeli military.
