PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio/AP) — Hundreds of people from the Philadelphia area made their way to Washington D.C. on Saturday to join with thousands from across the U.S. to call for the federal government to end its support of Israeli air strikes in Gaza.
As many as 500 area residents embarked on the trip to take part in the national march on the nation’s capital, co-hosted by the American Muslim Task Force on Palestine, comprising of some of the largest Muslim organizations in the U.S., along with antiwar and racial justice groups. Organizers expect about 25,000 people from across the nation to participate.
The Washington march is part of a global day of action against what has become the longest and deadliest war between Israel and Palestinians in 75 years.
“It's our tax dollars that are paying for this war campaign,” said Ray Mustafa, who drove to the march after all seats on the 10 buses leaving from Philly were filled. “Everybody's eager to have their voices and opinions heard.”
Israel declared war in response to Hamas’ unprecedented cross-border attack on Oct. 7 in which the Islamic militant group killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 250 others hostage. It was the deadliest attack in Israel’s history and the deadliest for Jews since the Holocaust.
Nearly 24,000 people have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since that attack. Almost two-thirds of those killed during Israel’s campaign in Gaza have been women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
Mustafa says he and his fellow marchers are traveling to deliver a message, “to let the President of the United States know and our members of Congress that the American people stand against funding Israel.”
He says our tax dollars should be used to focus on problems at home, rather than overseas. “We don’t have free healthcare in this country,” he said. “We have a homelessness problem. We have a drug problem. And our tax dollars instead of staying in the United States to fund infrastructure, and our people are being used to fight wars.”
Earlier on Saturday, children joined protesters in central London to march on behalf of Gaza. Protesters waved Palestinian flags, held placards critical of the Irish, U.S. and Israeli governments and chanted, “Free, free Palestine.″
The plight of children in the Gaza Strip after nearly 100 days of the war was the focus of the latest London march, symbolized by the appearance of Little Amal, a 3.5-meter (11.5-foot) puppet originally meant to highlight the suffering of Syrian refugees. The traveling puppet had recently made an appearance in Philadelphia during the city’s 2023 Welcoming Week festivities last September.
“On Saturday Amal walks for those most vulnerable and for their bravery and resilience,“ said Amir Nizar Zuabi, artistic director of The Walk Productions. “Amal is a child and a refugee and today in Gaza childhood is under attack, with an unfathomable number of children killed. Childhood itself is being targeted. That’s why we walk.”
London’s Metropolitan Police force said some 1,700 officers would be on duty for the march, including many from outside the capital.
A number of conditions were placed for the London march, including a directive that no participant in the protest shall venture near the Israeli Embassy.
Corresponding marches were held in European cities including Paris, Rome, Milan and Dublin, where thousands also marched along the Irish capital's main thoroughfare to protest Israel’s military operations in the Palestinian enclave.