American Muslims rally for Palestine in open challenge to Zionist lobby

By Shabbir Rizvi

Thousands of American Muslims rallied this month under the flag of Palestine, reaffirming their unflinching support for the Palestinian cause, despite a myriad of attempts to suppress and stifle pro-Palestine voices by the Zionist lobby.

From the beginning of May, rallies, teach-ins and demonstrations that have been held across the United States demonstrated that the Palestinian cause cannot be ignored - both in Muslim and non-Muslim communities.

With the commemoration of the Day of Nakba and the Zionist capitulation to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s operation ‘Revenge of the Free’, tensions have been high in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Shortly after the culmination of the victorious Palestinian operation, Israelis marched through the streets of Al-Quds, waving the occupier flag, even storming Al Aqsa mosque and harassing Palestinians.

“Death to Arabs!” was one of the reprehensible chants the illegal settlers raised in occupied Al-Quds.

At the same time, the Israeli regime’s legislative body Knesset proposed to ban the display of the Palestinian flag altogether, marking another step towards erasing the Palestinian identity.

The Palestinian flag, which is often torn and desecrated by Zionist forces and settlers in occupied Palestine, and banned from public demonstrations in Germany, is not only a symbol of solidarity with the Palestinian cause but has become a worldwide symbol of the fight against oppression and injustice.

Pro-Palestine organizations in the United States, which were previously suppressed, are now gaining popularity, with more and more people joining every year.

The popularity of these organizations has enabled them to hold significant solidarity rallies despite Zionist-backed attempts to stop them, particularly this May - the 75th anniversary of the Nakba.

Rallies not only commemorated the Nakba (which means ‘catastrophe’ in Arabic) but protested the erasure of the Palestinian identity. In the United States, there are constant efforts to erase the very Palestinian identity, from songs of Palestinian pride being removed on streaming services.

Despite the mainstream, institutional attempts to snub Palestine, the rallies in the US numbered in the hundreds to the thousands and were held in cities from San Francisco to Washington, DC.

“I am out here supporting Palestine, commemorating 75 years of the Nakba, and the horrible atrocities that happened,” Tamara Dissi was quoted as saying during a protest in front of the Washington Monument. “I'm just out here representing my people and my community.”

The demands for the liberation of occupied Palestinian territories have grown louder across the US, particularly among the Millennial and Generation Z audience. Notably, this is a huge step away from the liberal ‘Two-State Solution” that is often the talking point among Democratic Party politicians.

There has been no dearth of these rallies from the start of the month, when Palestinian flags were raised on May Day, to the very end of the month.

On Friday, May 26, American Muslims for Palestine held a flag-raising rally in downtown Chicago.

Held before Friday prayer, nearly 200 people took part in the rally which included speeches from student organizations like Students for Justice in Palestine. Demonstrators pledged to never abandon the cause of Palestine, called for the return of Palestinian refugees, and expulsion of occupation forces.

Previously, these types of events would be met with fierce resistance. Local politicians friendly with the Zionist lobby would attempt to prevent such events from happening entirely.

If that failed, counter-demonstrations would be held. Instead, there was no resistance to the rally - a sign of the growing popularity of the Palestinian cause.

The Palestinian flag was then raised high in the middle of Daley Plaza to the crowd's loud and vociferous cheers. Passersby stopped to take pictures and talk with some of the organizers

Rama Atieh, an organizer for American Muslims for Palestine Chicago, told the cheering crowd: “When we are here defending our identity, our people, our cause. We are raising the Palestinian flag…it represents justice, peace, and hope.”

The ongoing criminal actions of the occupying regime have mobilized millions of people across the world to stand with Palestine.

In the United States, which politically shields the Israeli regime and pumps endless money that only fuels atrocities in the occupied territories, thousands of people have bravely stood up against Israeli aggression and the attempted erasure of the Palestinian identity.

A sea of Palestinian flags on main roads of major cities from California to New York in recent weeks showed Palestinians both in and outside occupied Palestine are going to resist all forms of aggression.

“It (the Palestinian flag) is a symbol of our homeland, our right to return, our steadfastness. It symbolizes the courage and strength of the Palestinian people in our struggle for self-determination,” said Atieh.

Shabbir Rizvi is a Chicago-based political analyst with focus on US internal security and foreign policy.

(The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Press TV)

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