By Christopher Young,
Contributing Writer,
Nearly 100 people rallied at the International Museum of Muslim Cultures at 101 E. Capital Street in downtown Jackson Monday, October 16, 2023, as what has been labeled a war by the State of Israel against Hamas enters its tenth day.
“Hamas launched a multi-pronged, surprise attack on Oct. 7. Crossing the border into several towns in Southern Israel, Hamas fighters kidnapped and killed more than 1,000 Israelis. They now hold at least 199 hostages, including some U.S. citizens, and have threatened an execution each time Israeli forces attack civilians in Gaza without warning,“ per USA Today.
Chants rang out at the rally – “this is a genocide” – in call and response, “We want justice you say how, stop the ethnic cleansing…colonizers we don’t need them, what we want is total freedom…free free Palestine, free free Palestine, no justice no peace….this is a genocide, we can end this genocide…free Palestine, free Palestine, free Palestine…in this lifetime, we can end this genocide…call it what it is.”
One of the rally organizers, Delana Tavakol, said, “Palestinians are being held hostage on their own land for the past 75 years…Israel’s retaliation, their collective punishment, not for the past week but for the past 75 years has been horrific – it is a genocide. Israel has been committing apartheid…terrible things are being done in our name…$158 billion US taxpayer dollars have gone to Israel since the Nakba (the mass displacement of Palestinians during the establishment of Israel) …could you imagine what that money could do for us in Mississippi…a nation state founded on a flash of racial and religious violence, has continued that violence every day since, with financing from Western nations…we live with the heavy burden of knowing that our money is buying weapons and training – paying soldiers to subjugate, silence, degrade, steal from, and kill our friends – brothers and sisters in the Middle East…”
Ameen Abdur-Rasheid, the Imam at Masjid Muhammad in Jackson, the oldest mosque in the State of Mississippi, shared in part, “We would like to send condolences to all of the innocent people killed on both sides of this conflict. Allah says in the Quran that he honors all of the children of Adam, our Father. So, one group is not superior to another. Allah said that Earth was created for just means – meaning justice, freedom, equity and equality for all people, not just for the powerful few. What does one expect after 75 years of injustice, stealing their land, and bloodshed? We do not see all Jewish people as enemies, there are Jewish people all over the world who don’t condone or support the occupation of Palestine…”
Blake Feldman shared in part that he was speaking because “Time is so precious. You know how people say I wish I could wake up everyday with the confidence of a mediocre white man? Well that was me in my teens and twenties – I thought that I was a lot smarter than I was …now I try to listen more and to learn and am speaking today because it is so important that more of us do that. Our government leaders have repeatedly voiced unwavering and unyielding support for Israel. When Israel or any alley denies an oppressed people water, fuel, medicine, demands the displacement of those people, and then bombs the roads that are necessary for that exodus, my support wavers, my support yields…”
Bishop Ronnie Crudup of New Horizon Church International, stated, “I’m here today to say stop the genocide. I’m here today not because I support what Hamas did on October 7th – I don’t. I think that was murder. I grieve with the Jewish folk. I am also here today because Israel’s response to that horrific event certainly is not justice – it is genocide. I am here today to grieve also with the Palestinian people because over 700 children have lost their lives. Over 2,000 people have lost their lives. Over 7,000 folk have been wounded in Gaza. I am here to say to everyone who is life-loving that we cannot support genocide. The people in Gaza are human beings. If you believe in the dignity of every-body, then you have to stand up and make your voice heard.”
Sister Okolo Rashid, co-founder and executive director of International Museum of Muslim Cultures (IMMC), reminded in part, “We are here today because this represents a seismic shift, a paradigm shift from what we have been seeing historically, even though the Israeli government is an occupying force – it controls Palestine, it controls the Gaza Strip, controls their daily lives. So, they (Israel)…so they are the lords of that land.” Later she shared there is a chapter in the Quran called mutual consultation – “and our position here today is that the only way we are going to stop the violence, is the leadership, the one’s controlling the land, they have to be willing to sit down and have mutual consultation.”
The Mississippi Link asked Khary Abusalah if he would comment, and he stated, “I’m Palestinian and we stand for Palestinian rights. I have a sister that lives in Gaza, we know what they are going through – it’s genocide, and it’s against human rights. We pray that everyone will be alright, and that the world and the governments and the people just stand and feel with us.”
Petitions from this rally are being circulated and will be forwarded to Mississippi’s Representatives in Congress later this week.
As of the evening following this Free Palestine Rally in Jackson, ABC News reports, “At least 1,400 people have died and 3,400 others have been injured in Israel after the militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented incursion from air, land and sea on Oct. 7, Israeli authorities said. In Gaza, at least 2,778 people have been killed in retaliatory strikes from Israel with another 9,938 more injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, with those numbers expected to climb.”
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