Rally for Palestinians draws crowd to Minnesota Capitol
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A rally in support of Palestinians drew a large crowd to the Minnesota State Capitol Wednesday evening. Demonstrators protested Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and called for an end to both the siege of Gaza and American support for Israel.
The gathering in St. Paul came on the same day that President Joe Biden visited Israel, where he reiterated the U.S. government’s commitment to the Jewish state and condemned the attack on Israeli civilians by Hamas.
At last night’s rally, there was little direct mention of the attack. But speakers said that the on-and-off violence since Israel’s founding is the result of 75 years of that country’s displacement and subjugation of Palestinians.
Muslim, anti-war and student groups organized the rally, where more than a thousand people squeezed onto the state capitol steps. Many waved red, black, white and green Palestinian flags as speakers demanded an end to what they called apartheid and genocide.
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It was not hard to find people directly affected by the fighting. Manal Aqel was born in the West Bank city of Hebron and now lives in the Twin Cities.
Aqel, 50, said she had been in regular contact with a cousin in Gaza until the Hamas massacre of civilians and Israel’s siege of the territory that followed.
“I tried to talk to him. He’s not answering, and I don’t know what happened to him. Before this started, usually every day he sends me a message, and now I can’t contact him. So I don’t know if he’s still alive,” Aqel said.
Aqel said the fighting must stop so civilians in Gaza can remain in their homes.
“If Israel keeps bombing them, they’re going to die. There’s no food, no water, nothing.”
Bashar Abusaf, 19, also has roots in the West Bank. His parents were born in Nablus. He said civilians are suffering the most.
“What’s happening back home isn’t really OK. Innocent babies and women dying. That’s mostly who’s dying, it’s kids. And that’s not OK,” Abusaf said.
The rally was part of a series of pro-Palestinian demonstrations around the world yesterday. In Washington, U.S. Capitol police arrested several hundred people and prosecutors charged three of them with assaulting officers.
By contrast there was no visible law enforcement presence at the St. Paul rally, which was entirely peaceful.
The Minnesota gathering also drew a contingent of Jews who oppose Israel. Miriam Kelberg of Minneapolis was among them. Kelberg, 28, said Zionism — the movement for a Jewish state — needs to be unraveled from the culture and traditions of Judaism.
“So many Jews have seen intergenerational violence in our own families. We’ve seen genocide. We’ve seen pogroms. And that is exactly what is happening in Palestine. And so we’re calling for a free Palestine in solidarity with Palestinians.”
A rally for Israel at a St. Louis Park synagogue last week also drew a large crowd, along with political leaders including Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
Elected officials were notably absent from the Palestinian rally, and many of the speakers Wednesday night criticized both Walz and President Biden for pledging their support to Israel immediately after the Hamas attack.
