Thousands of people have taken to the streets in the Texas State Capitol in downtown Austin, calling on President Joe Biden to stop supporting Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.
An estimated 10,000 people gathered on the northern side of the city Sunday afternoon, holding banners that read, “Save Palestine, Cease Fire Now."
They were also carrying signs, calling on Biden to stop using tax dollars to fund Tel Aviv’s genocide and support a ceasefire in Gaza.
They were chanting, “Ceasefire Now!” and “Free, Free Palestine Now!”
“Our tax dollars should stay here for the prosperity of our own children, not for the death and destruction of impoverished children halfway around the world,” said an Austin resident who attended the rally.
At one point, the march took particular aim at Governor Greg Abbott, who has affirmed his support for the Israeli regime. Demonstrators were chanting, “Abbott, Abbott, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide.”
Among the protesters were a group of doctors, medical students and dentists who were driven to despair by the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza, where health care workers, along with their patients, have not been spared under Israel’s relentless bombardment.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said Sunday that Gaza’s second largest hospital, Al-Quds Hospital, was no longer operational and had been surrounded by Israeli tanks.
The organization said it held the international community and signatories of the Fourth Geneva Convention accountable for the complete breakdown of Gaza’s healthcare system and the resulting dire humanitarian crisis.
Israel waged its war on Gaza on October 7, after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm into the occupied territories in response to Tel Aviv’s intensified crimes against the Palestinian people. The regime has so far killed more than 11,180 Palestinians, over 4,600 of whom children.