October 7 marked one year in the ongoing Israeli genocide against Palestinians, but the people of the world did not let the day pass without marking and commemorating the atrocity and affirming their solidarity with the Palestinian people who resistance imperialist war and destruction.
From Caracas, to Tokyo, to New York City, to Rabat, Morocco, people all around the globe denounced genocide and registered their support for a liberated Palestine, as well as a world liberated from colonialism and occupation.
The International Peoples’ Assembly, an international platform of people’s movements, left parties and trade unions, with many member organizations openly supporting Palestinian liberation, issued a statement of solidarity on October 7. The IPA uplifted five principal demands: a ceasefire, an end to the Israeli blockade of Gaza, a return of occupied territories to the Palestinian people, an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and an end to the attacks against the entire region.
The IPA wrote that, “In this past year, the undeniable and brutal nature of imperialism has been made clear to millions around the world. Israel has not only refused to stop its daily assaults on the people of Palestine but now is escalating the genocide into a regional war. In the face of this depravity, a historic surge of anti-imperialist struggle has swept the world.”
Latin America
In Caracas, Venezuela, demonstrators on October 5, gathered in the city to oppose the Israeli genocide in Gaza. Demonstrators held signs that read “Viva Palestine Libre” and “Arrest Netanyahu for crimes against humanity!” Signs also called for a ceasefire, and promoted slogans such as “76 years of genocide,” indicating opposition to the long history of Israeli occupation as a whole.
On October 7, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – Peoples’ Trade Agreement (ALBA-TCP) organized an event labeled as an “Antifascist and Anti-Zionist Cultural Forum in Solidarity with Palestine.”
ALBA-TCP Executive Secretary Jorge Arreaza said during the event that the sole cause of the deaths in Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon “is the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories.”
“We have witnessed genocide live and direct for a year, through social media and the news, and we must fight against indifference, against normalization. The 42,000 dead in Palestine are not just numbers; they are human beings, souls, and a future being killed in Palestinian territory,” Arreaza said.
Demonstrations were also held in Quito, Ecuador; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Santiago, Chile; São Paulo, Brazil; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Bogotá, Colombia. In Bogotá, hundreds of protesters rallied outside the embassies of Palestine and Lebanon to show their solidarity and support and then marched to the US Embassy to condemn the role of the US in Israel’s genocide.
The social movement platform ALBA Movimientos also issued a statement on the anniversary, writing, “We have seen throughout the length and breadth of Our America our people fighting in solidarity and against genocide but we need to join forces and demand that governments defend the Palestinian cause and stop being complicit in the systematic extermination. Palestine is not alone in this struggle. International solidarity defends it and fights for its self-determination. It is time to take to the streets, to put pressure on parliaments and all political institutions inside and outside our territories, to demand an end to the Zionist occupation, the right to land and return, and the dignity of the Palestinian people.”
North Africa and West Asia against normalization and for resistance
Demonstrations were held across North Africa and the Arab region around October 7. Crowds marched through the streets of Damascus, Syria, bearing large Palestinian flags.
The National Union of Moroccan students announced a nationwide strike across universities to reject the normalization of ties between Morocco and Israel, as part of a larger campaign undertaken by students against academic normalization with Israeli institutions. Many students and faculty across the country also participated in a nationwide strike on Monday, October 7 to mark the day of the Al-Aqsa Flood.
Thousands poured into central squares in Rabat, Morocco on October 6, with demonstrators holding signs depicting assassinated leaders within the Axis of Resistance, including Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Many also took to the streets on October 7 in Tetouan, Morocco, carrying Lebanese as well as Palestinian flags.
A demonstration also took place in Sousse, Tunisia on October 9 and students marched in Amman, Jordan on October 7.
Asia affirms legacy of solidarity with Palestinian cause
Thousands across South and East Asia also registered opposition to the Israeli genocide of Palestinians.
In India’s capital New Delhi, Prakash Karat, the national coordinator of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), addressed a rally and demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for Israel to be held accountable for committing genocide and war crimes.
Left parties in India including CPI (M), Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, and others had issued a nationwide call for protest in solidarity with Palestine and against the Indian government’s pro-Israeli policies on October 7. Protests were held in several Indian states such as Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal among others.
In his speech in Delhi, Karat criticized the Indian government for supplying weapons to Israel, and. He demanded the Indian government to stop betraying India’s legacy of anti-colonialism and pro-Palestinian stance. Karat denounced that India abstained on the resolution demanding Israel withdraw its illegal occupation of Palestinian land within a time bound manner.
Several massive rallies were organized at Shaera Faisal and Teen Talwar in Karachi, Pakistan on Sunday and Monday in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle. The protest calls were given by several political parties as well as progressive and left movements such as Aurat March, Progressive Students Collective, among others.
The rally at Shaera Faisal was attended by different political parties in Pakistan including Jamaat-e-Islami and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). The speakers in the rally condemned Israel’s genocide of Palestinians, calling its indiscriminate attacks on civilians criminal.
In Seoul, South Korea, on October 5, more than 200 organizations, including the International Strategy Center held a massive rally to demand an end to genocide and a liberated Palestine.
A massive gathering was also organized in the Japanese capital Tokyo by the grouping Palestinians of Japan.
Rising up against imperialism in the core
Hundreds of thousands took to the streets of European cities over the weekend of October 5-6, responding to an international call in support of Palestine, only days ahead of the date that marks the anniversary of the beginning of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza. Solidarity groups marched in London, Madrid, Rome, Dublin, Berlin, Belgrade, and dozens of other locations, once again reaffirming their call for an immediate ceasefire and an arms embargo on Israel—a demand they have been voicing for an entire year.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign in the United Kingdom reported that approximately 300,000 people marched through London. Among the speakers at the London demonstration was Jeremy Corbyn, who urged attendees to continue advocating “for the only path to a just and lasting peace: an end to the occupation of Palestine.”
Support for Palestine was also registered by tens of thousands within the United States, Israel’s most powerful and significant backer. 20,000 people march from Times Square to Washington Square Park in New York City to mark one year of resistance to genocide, from the US to Palestine. Actions happened concurrently in cities such as Chicago, Boston, Washington DC, Dallas, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Raleigh, Tampa, Cincinnati, and Rochester, NY.
“We will never succumb to despair. We will continue struggling, continue marching, continue fighting, and continue organizing because the struggle has just begun,” said Layan Fuleihan of the People’s Forum, addressing the crowd in Washington Square Park.
