Protesters in Detroit mark 'year of genocide' in Israel-Palestinian conflict
The fist of fighter Joe Louis above her head, a banner with the words "Resistance until Liberation" in red, black and green having been hung from the monument, Sahar Faraj, 31, of Detroit, looked down briefly. The crowd gathered around her quieted, grounding themselves in their grief at Faraj's request.
To mark the year — a year of genocide, attendees said — hundreds, including Faraj, gathered, in part, to grieve the more than 40,000 Palestinians killed and tens of thousands injured during Israel's response to Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack that claimed more than a thousand lives and hundreds of hostages.
They marched Saturday in downtown Detroit, vowing continued resistance against Israel and against U.S. efforts and politicians who back Israel. The effort was organized by numerous groups, including the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, and featured speakers from organizations including Detroit Will Breathe, which grew to prominence following the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
The crowd put their own fists in the air after Faraj started speaking again. To the Free Press, Faraj explained that she is Palestinian, and she has family in the West Bank.
"It's heartbreak that our community feels and has felt for a yearlong, straight," she said. "So it's been very difficult to be able to focus on what we call 'normal life' here in the U.S. while we're watching our families quite literally die before our eyes, or be murdered actually."
She called, at this year mark, for people to research the companies and products supporting Israel's actions and spend their money accordingly.
But it felt good to be together, to be united, she said Saturday.
The protesters are calling for what they say are simple things that they have been asking for over the last year, like an arms embargo, said Mohamed Almawri, 39, of Dearborn, as he led the way for the march with a Palestinian flag in hand in front of the Huntington Place. After multiple speakers addressed the crowd at the fist, trucks and cars honking in support, the crowd marched through the streets.
Almawri has been calling for liberation since this began a year ago, he said. He's hoping others will speak out, boycott and take action, too.
"Just be part of the narrative that we're trying to change over here, that we have a genocide going on and our government (is) being complicit in it," he said.
He, like others interviewed and heard in chants that echoed over the streets, denounced both the Democratic and Republican parties. He said maybe the resistance will encourage a break in the two-party system. He plans to vote for Jill Stein of the Green Party.
Marion Mourtada, 64, of Dearborn, carried images of loved ones as she marched. She has been married to a Lebanese man for 40 years, she said. Eight family members were killed in recent Israeli bombings in Lebanon.
They were civilians in their homes, she said. Infants, a newly married couple, a grandfather and a grandson were among them.
The attacks are about taking land and civilians are being targeted, she said.
"I wish there was a much even larger turnout ... because this is a human rights issue," she said of the gathering Saturday.
The crowd eventually stopped near the Detroit Public Safety Headquarters. There, Jeni Yaseen, an organizer with the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, spoke the names of those killed, including Americans like Floyd who was killed on U.S. soil by police, and how they were killed. The crowd responded, shouting "shame." She also noted Detroit Free Press findings of evidence that Detroit police are tracking protesters.
Multiple people who participated in the rally Saturday expressed fear over providing their names to the news media in order to be interviewed, saying doxing was commonly committed against pro-Palestinian people or that they were wary of their employer learning of their stance.
Alysia Gucwa, 37, came all the way from Flint with her 13-year-old daughter Taylor to show support, however.
The pair carried signs calling out the injuries and deaths of Palestinian children over the last year.
"I think that if I were in that position (as a Palestinian mother), that I would want everyone in the world to be speaking about the pain and grief that I'm feeling, and the mourning and the inescapable hell and suffering that their children are going through," she said, later adding: "When we deny people their humanity, we slowly siphon our own and it's a slippery slope."
Free Press staff photographer David Rodriguez-Munoz contributed to this report.
