USPCN chapters mobilized across the U.S., moving tens of thousands to act on the demands of last month’s Palestinian Uprising

While Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank, the 1948 territories, and Gaza faced the brutal violence of zionist Israeli aggression from May 10th to May 21st, our heroic resistance rose to the occasion, defended Palestine on all fronts, and defeated the racist, apartheid state in this battle!

Our people back home called upon us to defend them in the diaspora as well, and USPCN responded by working in coalition to urgently organize a variety of actions in a number of major cities where we have chapters. Our social media strongly projected this incredible surge in U.S. organizing for Palestinian rights, we had a number of new members join our ranks, and our leaders explained the Uprising and our people’s victory in interviews with Voice of OC [Orange County], Borderless Magazine, and a number of other outlets.

In addition, the unity of this Uprising across all of historical Palestine, and the unity of the people of the world in support of our resistance and our rights, has created an incredible opening for our work in the U.S. An unprecedented 25 members of the U.S. House of Representatives have co-sponsored Congresswoman Betty McCollum’s bill, HR 2590, the Palestinian Children and Families Act, which prohibits U.S. taxpayer funding to be used for the Israeli military detention and ill-treatment of Palestinian children, demolitions of Palestinian homes, and further annexation of the occupied West Bank.

USPCN is working with the American Friends Service Committee, Defense for Children International – Palestine, and many others to press more Representatives to sign on. You can do your part here!

The Campaign for Liberation and Dignity also saw a surge in donations for the people in Gaza. Please continue to support this project, and go to our Link Tree for much more: write a letter to Congress to sanction Israel, watch the brilliant Palestinian organizers who spoke about political prisoners Ata Khattab and Khitam Saafin at our Nakba Day event, and join USPCN!

See this recap below of the great strides we have made with your support, and continue donating to help us all with our next victory, a Free Palestine!

BAY AREA, CA On Nakba Day, the Bay Area mobilized 10,000 people for a rally and march, and USPCN co-founder and current National Coordinating Committee member, Monadel Herzallah, delivered one of the main speeches. The highlight of the action was a beautiful mural project facilitated by artist Chris Gazaleh, who is also the designer of the image. (It is featured at the very top of this email.) Over 250 people contributed to create the mural.

And in response to the call from Palestine for a General Strike, we rallied at the Israeli Consulate on May 18th.

USPCN joined other community organizations to protest biased coverage and corporate censorship in front of Facebook headquarters in Silicon Valley on March 21st, and also marched and rallied from the Mission District to the Civic Center on May 22nd.

And we delivered a powerful message by defeating Israel again in the #BlockTheBoat campaign, as we did back in 2014. An Israeli ship tried to dock in Oakland just a few days ago, and we stopped it! With the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) leading the way, USPCN is actively participating in mobilizing community and labor allies to continue shutting it down!

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA USPCN joined a local coalition and helped mobilize 20,000 people during Nakba Week to shut down business as usual in Los Angeles. Working together with our friends from the Arab American Civic Council, Palestinian American Women’s Association (PAWA), Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), Al-Awda, Yalla Indivisible, and solidarity allies, we also made sure to flood the media with authentic Palestinian voices.

Our folks also engaged Arab communities in Anaheim and Los Angeles, with two vigils commemorating our dear martyrs.

And together with our Arab and Palestinian family in Little Arabia (an Arab enclave in the heart of Orange County), we organized a car caravan cutting through Disneyland into the heart of Santa Ana, where we continue to pressure congressional officials until they meet Palestinian demands.

MILWAUKEE, WI USPCN joined with a broad coalition of organizations across Milwaukee to raise our voices and fists for Palestine in at least four different mobilizations and actions. While most of these were organized by some of our long-standing community institutions, we also saw new young people become activated.

At the most recent rally for justice in Palestine, representatives from leading local immigrant, Black, and brown organizations shared their solidarity and support against police brutality and settler-colonialism wherever it happens.

And on the Global Strike Day for Palestine, USPCN members organized alongside the Overpass Light Brigades to send a message to commuters with a sign lit up over the highway (image above). It was the culmination of a full day of rallies across the city, and solidified solidarity across Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) leaders in support of justice for the Palestinian people.

CHICAGO, IL USPCN, member organization of the Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine (CJP), helped lead the May 12th rally in support of the Uprising, after which 10,000 people marched to the Israeli embassy. USPCN co-MCed the protest. Watch this incredible video from Sensitive Visuals.

On May 16th, CJP mobilized an estimated 20,000 people in support of Palestine, one of the largest foreign policy protests in Chicago’s history. Congressman Jesus “Chuy” Garcia spoke strongly in condemnation of Israel.

And on the day after the ceasefire agreement, USPCN helped CJP lead another protest of 3,000 people, where Congresswoman Marie Newman pledged her continued support for Palestinian self-determination.

Go to this page for media coverage of USPCN’s work in Chicago.

DETROIT, MI Over 1,000 filled the streets of Dearborn in the heart of the Arab American community, for a rally on the anniversary of #Nakba73!

Listen to a clip of a speech at the rally from leading USPCN-Detroit member and national chair of our Political Education committee, Danya. To get involved in our Detroit chapter, email [email protected].

YOUNGSTOWN & CLEVELAND, OH To answer the call for support and intensification from the diaspora, the rejuvenated Youngstown and Cleveland chapters of USPCN have held local protests all over their respective towns.

One was in front of the office of Congressman Tim Ryan, who early last month gave a disappointing and unsettling statement in support of Israeli apartheid. The Youngstown chapter also participated in a larger demonstration in Cleveland and held a panel discussion, where academics and experts from around town gave presentations that served to remind the community of its historical place in the Palestine support movement in the U.S. Youngstown also organized a vigil on June 2nd to remember and honor our martyrs, and Ohio generally represented USPCN National at last week’s rally for Palestine in Washington DC.

At-large USPCN members also worked in coalitions and participated in activities in Houston and New York, amongst other cities.

#PalestineWillBeFree #PalestineWins #SaveSheikhJarrah #SaveSilwan #SaveLifta #FreeAtaKhattab #FreeKhitamSaafin

Until Liberation and Return,

George Khoury
USPCN National Coordinating Committee member