More than 1,000 people rallied on Saturday in Washington in support ofPalestinians, calling for an end to US aid to Israel.
The demonstration on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial came as a ceasefirelink, which ended 11 days of violencelink in the Gaza Strip, has so far held.
“We are hoping to send a clear message to the United States government thatthe days of supporting the Israeli state without repercussions are over,”one of the demonstrators, 39-year-old Washington lawyer Sharif Silmi, saidas he stood in the crowd where many protesters held red, white, green andblack Palestinian flags.
“We will stand against any politician that continues to fund weapons toIsrael. We will oppose them, we will vote against them, we will fund theiropponents until we vote them out of office,” said Silmi.
Lama Alahmad, who is of Palestinian origin and a resident of neighbouringVirginia , said US public opinion is turning in favour of the Palestiniancause.
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“There is a huge change” going on in the US with regard to the Palestiniancause seeking a sovereign homeland, said Alahmad. “We just want the worldto recognise that we are human beings. We are not terrorists,” saidAlahmad, a 43-year-old stay-at-home mother who grew up in the United ArabEmirates before moving to the US around 20 years ago.
Silmi insisted there was now broad opposition in the US to how Israeltreats Palestinians, which he likened to the apartheid in South Africa.
“People have now woken up, and we’re resisting. Whether young Jews, youngMuslims, young blacks, young whites, there is a generational shift. Andpeople are working across ethnic groups, racial groups, to work for changeand freedom and liberation for Palestinian people,” Silmi said. -APP/AFP
