Thousands of people took to the streets in several cities across the United States on Friday to express anger at Israel’s atrocities in the besieged Gaza strip.
Protesters in Washington DC, Los Angeles, Manhattan, Phoenix and other cities held rallies on the international Quds Day and in solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian nation.
“They [Israelis] are murderers, it’s as simple as that,” one protester told Press TV’s Washington correspondent Colin Campbell.
The Israelis “are bombing Gaza like it’s nothing. People are innocent, children are dead. We are here to support [them] and also make sure that we have justice,” another participant said.
In August 1979, the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini, declared the last Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan the International Quds Day.
This year’s Quds Day had a bigger emotional undertone because of the bloodshed in Gaza.
At least three thousand people held a rally in Times Square in Manhattan, New York to protest against the Israeli crimes in the besieged coastal area.
Sunni and Shia Muslims joined secular leftists and anti-Israeli Jews to call for the liberation of Gaza which has been under a crippling blockade since 2007.
Waving Palestinian flags and signs condemning Israel for the offensive, many called for an end to US military aid to Israel.
Protesters in Los Angeles also took up flags and banners outside the Federal Building in Westwood, to call for an end to Israel’s deadly attacks in Gaza.
In Phoenix, Arizona, hundreds of people took to the street to condemn the Israeli atrocities. Protesters held similar demonstrations across Arizona on Friday.
Since July 8, Israeli warplanes have been pounding the Gaza Strip, demolishing homes and burying families in the rubble. Israeli tanks also began a ground invasion into the impoverished Palestinian land on July 17.
Over 960 Palestinians have been killed in the onslaught. The United Nations says over 80 percent of the fatalities have been civilians, including more than 200 children.
On Friday, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas and Israel agreed to implement a 12-hour UN-brokered ceasefire to allow the delivery of humanitarian supplies to the area.
