U.S. and Israeli military actions condemned at Center City protest

Roughly Philadelphians engaged in a midday protest Saturday against U S military action in the Middle East that included a City Hall rally and later march to Rittenhouse Square The protest which condemned the latest attacks by Israel and the U S on Iran as well as Israeli actions in Gaza was originally scheduled for last Monday but was moved to p m Saturday to avoid last week s extreme heat In the time since the rescheduling a ceasefire between the three countries was reached Organizers had declared earlier in the week they expected hundreds to participate Saturday Of those that did show various brandished signs and harmonized in chants denouncing the actions of Israel and the U S The U S and Israel have not stopped They want regime change in that country Iran and we do not believe that they will stop until they get it declared Joel Northam who participated in the protest Billy Penn approached multiple protest participants who almost unanimously refused to speak on the record or share their identity The conflict between Israel and Iran began June when Israel launched a series of attacks ostensibly aimed at Iran s nuclear venture and entered a new phase when the U S joined the attack on Iran s nuclear capabilities last weekend Iran and Israel agreed to a ceasefire on Monday June Saturday s protest was organized by Philadelphia activist organizations including The Philly Palestine Coalition and Students for Justice in Palestine Speeches by members of these groups addressed a variety of concerns including American imperialism the fate of the Palestine people and the Trump administration Organizers stated that the protest s purpose was to raise consciousness of the situations and issues Protests of the therapy of Palestinians especially have been a staple of masses gatherings in and around Philly for nearly two years as Israeli military actions in Gaza have inflicted tens of thousands of civilian casualties while pursuing Hamas which staged a surprise attack on Israel in October that killed a great number of of them Israeli civilians There are definitely people that don t know about the situation there in Iran and Palestine so we re out here to try to let people know what s really happening because they re being lied to Northam announced Several protesters ripped apart a U S flag after first attempting to light it on fire during Saturday s protest in Center City Davis Cuffe Billy Penn During the rally at City Hall one speaker who identified himself as Israel s worst nightmare brought out an Israeli flag and stomped on it calling it a terrorist flag and condemning the country s actions in Gaza and Iran Later members of the protest attempted to burn an American flag but it failed to catch fire and they ripped it apart by hand instead Signs and banners held by protestors read messages like Stop genocide free Palestine Hands off Iran and one sign had an illustration of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu behind bars with the message Lock him up Traffic was stopped for the duration of the roughly half-mile march as the group made their way from City Hall to Rittenhouse Square where a final rally was held on the corner of Walnut and th streets During this second stop in the rally multiple onlookers confronted protestors One man who claimed to be Jewish yelled that the group hated Jewish people and got into a loud exchange about Palestine with three protestors before walking off Another time a woman stopped to loudly sing an Israeli song at the group while another man argued with protestors while recording with his phone A man who refused to identify himself but claimed to be Jewish got into a confrontation with parade participants near Rittenhouse Square on Saturday Davis Cuffe Billy Penn Police stepped between protestors and onlookers before any confrontation could escalate and the majority ended on their own The protestors were of plenty of ages A great number of looked to be in their early twenties and particular like Joe Piette were much older Piette shared that he served in and later opposed the Vietnam War and has been operational in antiwar protests since then I m glad that a lot of young people are involved Piette reported These are the people that are going to replace me and continue that struggle The post U S and Israeli military actions condemned at Center City protest appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY