Dozens of protesters marched across Copley Square on Saturday as part of the second annual Free Palestine Walks. Boston was one of 47 American cities to participate in the protests.
The walks, organized by The American Association for Palestinian Equal Rights, are being held throughout the month to raise awareness among Americans about the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and to lobby peacefully for “an equitable U.S. policy toward Palestine,” according to the website.
Last year’s Free Palestine Walk in Brookline evoked angry reactions.
Opposing protestors tried to block the march and take away the AAPER banner as they wove through Brookline.
This year, a number of precautions were taken to avoid any sort of conflict.
A permit was obtained for this year’s demonstration and the walk included a police escort, officers of which said that although they didn’t expect any trouble, they had a duty to “protect their freedom of speech.”
The organization also made clear that all participants were to wear uniform T-shirts and refrain from chanting, wandering from the designated route or waving any signs or posters aside from the official AAPER banner.
The participants of the walk rejected any motivation of anti-Semitism.
“I’m not anti-Jew and I’m not even anti-Israel,”said Kate Crouch, a participant of the walk and a senior at Northeastern University.”That’s part of the awareness. Just because you support the Palestinian rights to the land they’ve always had, or food or water, doesn’t mean you’re anti-Israeli. It’s not about being anti-Jewish, it’s about basic human rights.”
JackCleary, a co-organizer of the movement, agreed.
“When I was in college, I had Jewish friends, and they thought that Israel was going about things the wrong way,” he said. “They got me involved back then.”
The march proceeded from Brewer Fountain on Park Street to Copley Square, and the walk ended with participants forming a circle and holding hands outside of Trinity Church. No incidents occurred during the walk.
“I think that a lot of our policy in the Middle East can change based on grassroots movements,” said Crouch. “We’re just trying to bring freedom and equality.”
Many believe that U.S. policy favors Israel in the Israel-Palestine conflict, a conflict that has its origins rooted as far back as the fall of the Ottoman Empire almost a century ago.
More than 7,454 people have been killed in just the last 10 years as a result of the conflict, according to B’Tselem, The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories.
A majority of those killed have been Palestinians, and many live in sub-standard conditions because of the Israeli occupation and discriminatory laws against Palestinians, protestors said.
“The idea is, the government is us, and if we don’t like what the government is doing we have to change it,” said a man who went by the name Dan the Bagel Man, a self-proclaimed lifelong human rights activist. “The idea is that we are the country. We have to be responsible for our government doing anything in our name. Our taxes pay for Israel to kill the people in Gaza and the West Bank and to destroy their homes.”
“We’re doing this because we want to bring attention to the fact that Palestinians do not have equal rights inside of Israel, or equal rights in the West Bank, or Gaza,” said Roberta, another co-organizer of the Boston chapter. She did not disclose her last name.
Clearyemphasized that awareness was necessary, since a majority of Americans lack an understanding of what has been happening in the area.
“I think our media doesn’t do a very good job of balanced reporting for the most part,” Cleary said. “But I think our awareness is growing.”
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