On the International Day in Solidarity with the Palestinian People, the people of the world are demanding a fully liberated Palestine. November 29 was also the last day of the temporary pause in the Israeli war on Gaza, negotiated between Israel and Hamas. However, a day long extension was achieved through negotiations just ahead of its expiration.
Mass movements around the world are standing unequivocally with the people of Palestine, facing a genocidal war in Gaza with at least 15,000 Palestinians killed by Israel. Even during the pause in aggression, Israeli forces continue to kill Palestinians, recently targeting the Jenin refugee camp and slaughtering two children in a raid last night.
Protests and demonstrations were held across the Arab and Maghreb region, with people are calling on their governments to put an end to the process of normalizing ties with Israel. In Morocco, the Moroccan Front Against Normalization and in Support of Palestine called for actions in 17 cities, including Rabat, Tetuan, Tanger, Houceima, Khenifra, and others.
Protest in Rabat, Morocco, demanding #FreePalestine. The rally was organized by the Moroccan Front Against Normalization and in Support of Palestine. ??✊?#CeasefireNowPermanently #FreePalestineFromIsraeINOW pic.twitter.com/BzNoBLdR9i
— International Peoples’ Assembly (@peoplesassembl_) November 30, 2023
The Workers’ Party of Tunisia joined a massive mobilization on November 29 in Tunis in solidarity with Palestine. In a statement, the Party denounced “Zionist colonialism, which is pillaging and violating a homeland, violating the dignity of a people, and challenging the conscience of the world with a barbaric war of extermination, with the shameless support of global imperialism, led by American and European imperialism, and regional reactionaries, foremost of which are the puppet Arab regimes.”
The Party condemned the Tunisian government for refusing to “criminalize normalization with the Zionist enemy,” and called on “all free citizens and males to demonstrate in all cities and villages of Tunisia in victory for the brotherly Palestinian people who are waging a war of dignity on behalf of all Arab peoples and all oppressed peoples yearning for liberation from the yoke of colonialism and exploitation.”
In Ramallah, Palestine, nationalist and Islamic forces, trade unions, civil society organizations, and popular committees rallied for the International Day in Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
In universities across Italy, students have organized occupations and strikes to demand that their universities cut ties with Israeli academic institutions and to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Universities that were occupied include the Universities of Florence, Padua, and Milan.
In Johannesburg, South Africa, thousands were on the streets from the country’s major political forces and parties such as African National Congress, the Economic Freedom Fighters, and the Pan-African Congress, as well as large trade unions such as NUMSA.
Thousands of South Africans in Johannesburg took onto the streets in commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with Palestine. pic.twitter.com/O8M1MiXswi
— #Africa4Palestine (@Africa4Pal) November 29, 2023
Actions were held across Latin America, including São Paulo, Brazil, in San Salvador, El Salvador, and in several cities in Puerto Rico such as Naranjito and Mayagüez. In Bogotá, Colombia, trade unions such as the Colombian Federation of Education Workers, the National Association of Petroleum Pensioners, and the National Coordinating Committee for Change took part in the mobilization. Protesters in Bogotá also burned a large banned with an Israeli flag and American flag painted on it.
In the United States, protests are being held in part in response to the shooting of three Palestinian college students in Vermont. In a statement following the attack, National Students for Justice in Palestine said that, “This is the latest in a series of escalating harassment and attacks against Arab and Muslim people across the United States that is being instigated by the White House, mainstream media, and universities, all of which have supported the US-backed genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.” Students in universities such as Harvard, Vassar, UCLA, Cornell, University of Vermont, staged walk-outs, sit-ins, and protests to stand in solidarity with their fellow students, demand their university cut ties with Israel, and to push for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
At Columbus Circle in Manhattan, New York City, a vigil took place honoring those killed in Gaza and the plight of the over 8,300 Palestinian political prisoners arbitrarily held captive in Israeli jails, as well as the three college students shot in Vermont. One thousand people took part in the action called for by the Palestinian Youth Movement, the People’s Forum, the ANSWER Coalition, among others. “We’re at a different moment in history,” said People’s Forum Executive Director Manolo De Los Santos at the vigil, surrounded by images of martyrs. “It’s not just that the Palestinian people are fighting, but the people of the world are fighting with them.”
In Manila, the capital of the Philippines, a thousand workers, women, youth and Muslims joined a march near the presidential palace to call for a permanent ceasefire.
