On Tuesday, 9 June, Palestinian activists in cities throughout Palestine took to the streets as part of the call from Tala’at, the Palestinian women’s movement. Demonstrations took place in Rafah, Haifa, Yafa, Nazareth, Jerusalem and Ramallah to demand justice for the Palestinian martyrs whose lives were taken by Israeli occupation forces and stand against colonization, occupation and annexation. Many participants in the demonstrations also carried posters of George Floyd, the Black martyr killed by U.S. police and signs and slogans affirming that Black Lives Matter.
The call for the 9 June protest highlighted a number of Palestinian martyrs, including Iyad al-Hallaq, Fadi Samara, Mustafa Younes, Bahaa al-Awawda, Salama Abu Kaf, Rami Ghalban and Zaid Qaisiya. Protesters in Jerusalem and Yafa faced attacks by Israeli occupation police forces. In Jerusalem, three young women were seized from the demonstration by occupation forces; their release was secured hours later. In Yafa, a protest denouncing the destruction of the Muslim Tasso cemetery to build a real estate development< was brutally attacked by Israeli occupation police, who stormed the demonstration, firing tear gas and sound grenades at the protest, which had also joined with the Tala’at protest held simultaneously.
In Nazareth, Palestinian poet and former political prisoner Dareen Tatour was among those who joined the demonstrations. In every city, participants highlighted the prisoners’ struggle for freedom as essential to the liberation of Palestine.
Samidoun organizers in occupied Palestine spread the call for the Tala’at demonstrations and participated in them, highlighting the struggle of the prisoners and distributing hundreds of cards and leaflets urging people to participate on the demonstration being organized in Ramallah on 1 July to confront Israeli threats of annexation and liquidation and to uphold Palestinian rights. Demonstrations are being organized inside and outside Palestine on the same date to join the call to confront annexation plans and affirm Palestinians’ rights to return, self-determination and national liberation.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes these important demonstrations that took place throughout Palestine, affirming the unity of the Palestinian cause from the river to the sea in occupied Palestine and the leadership of Palestinian women in organizing and mobilizing their communities to confront the crimes of the occupation. We urge all around the world to join us in 1 July in organizing and mobilizing to confront racism, colonialism and imperialism, demand the defeat of the Israeli annexation threats, and uphold Palestinian rights.
Photos and videos from the demonstrations:
Haifa demonstration:
Photos:
