by Jeannie Connerney
On Saturday, Nov. 29, events around the world marked the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Started in 1978, the day commemorates United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181. This partition plan, which was adopted by the U.N. in 1947, intended to establish both a Palestinian and a Jewish state in occupied Palestine. The State of Israel was established in 1948. The promise of a Palestinian State remains unfulfilled, however. Instead, during the past 78 years Israel has continued to expand its borders and build settlements. At events around the world, people showed their solidarity with Palestinians in the wake of over two years of genocide in Gaza and an increase in violence in the West Bank.
Three events marked the occasion here in Boston. On Black Friday, an action organized by members of the Boston Coalition for Palestine and North Shore for Palestine took place at the CambridgeSide Galleria. A group of activists walked repeatedly and silently through the mall holding signs calling for a Free Palestine and highlighting the complicity of companies such as Apple, Sephora, and Zara in the genocide and occupation of Palestine. A video projection opposite the parking garage followed. Titled, “All Our Struggles Are Connected,” the short film showed images relating to the colonization of Turtle Island, the occupation of Palestine, and the genocides in Gaza and Sudan.
At noon on Saturday, MAPA and the Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine were among several groups who sponsored an event at Downtown Crossing. Approximately 100 people lined Washington Street at the intersection of Winter and Summer Streets, holding banners and signs in support of Palestine, while others handed out flyers to passersby. A MAPA table invited people to fill out postcards to send to their representatives in support of the Block the Bombs bill, preventing more United States dollars from funding weapons used on Palestine.
This was followed by an event in Copley Square, sponsored by Drop Elbit Capital One, BDS Boston, and the Palestinian Youth Movement, Boston. After a short rally in front of the Boston Public Library, the crowd marched to the Capital One Café on Boylston Street and stood outside chanting, blowing horns, and beating drums to highlight the complicity of the bank in the Gaza genocide. Capital One is a major lender to Elbit Systems, the manufacturer who provides 85% of the drones used by Israel as well as weapons used in the destruction of Gaza.
The official death toll from the genocide in Gaza has surpassed 70,000, although estimates of the actual number of dead are much higher. At least 179,000 people have been injured. The area has been rendered unlivable with 90% of homes and most infrastructure destroyed. Only a fraction of the aid promised in the U.S.-drafted October 10 “peace plan” crosses the border. Israel has violated the terms of the agreement at least 500 times and has murdered at least 356 people since the alleged “ceasefire” went into effect.