Demonstrators rally in #PortlandMaine to demand permanent #Ceasefire in #Gaza
More than 200 people gathered in Deering Oaks on Saturday afternoon for a rally to highlight the struggles of the #Palestinian people living in the #GazaStrip.
by Gilian Graham, May 4, 2024
"More than 200 people gathered in Deering Oaks on Saturday afternoon for a #MayDay rally to highlight the interconnected struggles between workers and students worldwide and the Palestinian people. Demonstrators then marched to the University of Southern Maine campus, where they gathered on the lawn in front of the McGoldrick Center to continue their call for an end to the assault on displaced Palestinians in #Rafah, a permanent cease-fire in the region and divestment from Israeli interests.
"The rally, organized by #MaineLaborForPalestine and #MaineStudentsForPalestine, comes as protests against Israel’s offensive have intensified on college campuses around the nation in recent weeks.
"Students on #Maine campuses have taken stands against the war, holding protests and calling on their schools to #divest from defense funds.
"Those protests have not mirrored the tense and chaotic scenes that have played out on college campuses in other parts of the country, including at the University of California Los Angeles recently, where officers in riot gear surged against a crowd of demonstrators.
"Police have arrested more than 2,000 people during pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses in recent weeks, according to a tally by the Associated Press.
"Emma, an organizer with Maine Students for Palestine who would not disclose her last name, came to the Portland rally straight from her graduation from the University of Southern Maine. Wearing a graduation gown, she described the horror of watching students 'experience police brutality for building a community dedicated to ending a genocide.'
"'I graduate today and I think about #Gaza. I think about how there are absolutely no universities left in Gaza. How over 14,000 children will never reach graduation because of #oil, #LandGrabs and deep- seated racism,' she said.
"#JillStein, the #GreenParty’s nominee for president, also spoke at the rally. She was arrested last weekend during a protest at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and charged with assaulting a police officer. She said she was assaulted with a bicycle, thrown to the ground and zip- cuffed while she was being arrested."
Source:
https://www.pressherald.com/2024/05/04/demonstrators-rally-in-portland-to-demand-permanent-cease-fire-in-gaza/?uuid=559ce42c-b15e-4359-8194-7ef39ad9b020&lid=11844&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3ww7kbcWQ561MLFw0QfKOMyB9J9FiTMHONgmE3G8ncBxbWIKmPLNoQV1U_aem_AYdZg93D0jzmsa7WBoM0IYlW9udVkPtBUjkLE30Wz_XqnxajjliZDwI8sU7n1zjFHgdw_1wdrpYATyxEoeUkolWR
#CeasefireNow #Palestine #GazaSolidarity
