Protesters walked and chanted on the streets of Downtown San José to show their support for Palestinian residents against Israel’s air and artillery strikes.
Omar Khoury, who is Palestinian, and a member of Silicon Valley for Palestine and the Palestinian Youth Movement, said the purpose of the protest was to call for the violence to come to an immediate ceasefire, and advocate for Palestinian residents to be able to access humanitarian relief.
“We’re protesting today against the 75 years of occupation of the Palestinian people against the brutal genocide that the people in Gaza are occurring,” Khoury said.
Many Jewish immigrants traveled from Eastern Europe to Palestine after the League of Nations established a settlement for them during World War II, according to a webpage from the United Nations.
By 1947, Palestine was divided into two separate and independent states, an Arab state and a Jewish state, until a year later when the Israeli government declared independence and captured 77% of the land that was originally designated to the Palestinians, according to the same source.
Palestinian residents were forced to become refugees and immigrate to Gaza and the West Bank, land that was still under the control of the Arab state at the time, and is now referred to as the “Nakba” or “(the) catastrophe” according to the same webpage.
“They have now faced 16 years of a brutal occupation in which Palestinians can’t leave from the sea,” Khoury said.
In 2000, after a series of unsuccessful peace negotiations, bomb attacks began and Israel built the West Bank separation wall, a wall mostly built within Palestinian borders and was ruled illegal by the International Court of Justice, according to the same webpage from the United Nations.
In 2020, Palestinians who entered the 200 meter wide designation “seam zone” between Israel’s West Bank separation wall and the 1949 armistice line would have been shot by Israeli soldiers, according to a March 1, 2022 article from the Guardian.
“They’re (Palestinian residents) are not allowed to leave by air because of a massive border wall,” Khoury said. “Even if a Palestinian comes close to the border wall, they’re shot dead. So it’s an open air prison in which 2.3 million Palestinians are trapped and facing an impending genocide.”
On Oct. 7, a Palestinian militant group known as “Hamas” launched an assault on Israel and hundreds of gunmen infiltrated communities near the Gaza Strip, according to an article published on Sunday by the British Broadcasting Corp (BBC).
In response to the attacks, the Israeli military launched air and artillery strikes, according to the same source.
On Sunday afternoon, protesters gathered and walked from San José City Hall to Plaza de Cesar Chavez chanting along with organizers, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
Khoury said another purpose of the protest was to allow Palestinian residents to receive access to humanitarian aid.
Israel cut off access to electricity, water, food, fuel and medical supplies on Saturday, according to the same article from the BBC.
“We’re protesting that we’re calling for an immediate end to the occupation and immediate ceasefire, and an immediate corridor for humanitarian relief so that the Palestinian people can have food, water, electricity and medical supplies and fuel,” Khoury said.
A female protester, who asked to remain anonymous for her safety, said she used to live in San José years ago and teaches at a Montessori school.
“Well, I stand with my people, Palestine,” she said. “I live in America, this is the least I can do for my people because it’s genocide.”
The protester said she still has family and friends who live in Palestine.
She said her mom and sister returned from visiting her family’s home country around July.
“Family and friends are so far good, (but others) they have no water, no electricity, everything is black out,” the protester said.
A protester, a military veteran who was born and raised in San José who also asked to remain anonymous for his safety, said he went to the protest because he felt conflicted about attacks between Palestine and Israel.
He said he joined the military when he was young to escape poverty and served for six years.
“I put in six years in the military here,” the protester said. “I’m proud to be American. But I’m also conflicted to see our resources in the United States are being used in a one-sided difference of opinion, if you will.”
The protester said in his opinion that the root cause of the tragedy in the Middle East is the human condition and that people need to wake up.
He said if most people did some self-reflection they would realize that they are like many Palestinian residents living inside or near Gaza.
“None of those are who we really are. If we dig deep inside we’ll find that we’re just like those people in Palestine,” the protester said. “People in Israel, people in the Ukraine, and all we want is peace, and to be able to live our lives in peace.”