Muslim-Americans and Supporters March in New York City to Protest Israel’s Recent Attack

On May 31—within hours of the news breaking of Israel’s raid on the largest ship in the Gaza-bound aid flotilla, the Mavi Marmara that killed at least nine people and wounded dozens of others—residents of New York City and its surroundings converged in Times Square for an impromptu protest. Four days later, after organizing and publicizing a rally in solidarity with Turkey’s denunciation of Israel’s actions, they returned in droves to march the streets of the city.

The rally was organized and sponsored by various Muslim-American groups and other groups that advocate for peace in the Middle East, including: the Arab Muslim American Federation, the Islamic Circle of North America, the Muslim American Society, A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and Racism), the Bangladeshi American Islamic Association, and CAIR-NY (Council on American-Islamic Relations New York).

Members of the Muslim and Jewish communities of New York made emphatic speeches in the heart of Times Square during the rally on June 4, talking of the inherent peace and compassion of both religions. After the speeches, the crowd of at least 350 people marched in across six avenues of the city, ending at the Turkish embassy to express their support of the country’s denunciation of Israel’s actions.

Despite the suffocating heat and humidity of mid-town Manhattan that day, the rally attendees remained enthusiastic chanting “No Justice, No Peace,” “Free, Free Palestine,” and “From Iraq to Palestine, Occupation is a Crime,” only pausing briefly to take sips of water when halted at intersections. The crowd carried signs reading “No More U.S. Dollars to Israeli Hijackers and Murders” and displaying photos and biographies of the nine slain activists.

Protesters carried Palestinian, Turkish, and American flags. One man carried red and white flowers to match the Turkish flag and carried a letter of gratitude to the Turkish embassy.

Along with solidarity with Turkey’s disapproval of Israel’s actions, the greater message of the crowd remained a hope of culpability for the perpetrators of the raid and a dedication to peace between Israel and Palestine.

Dyma Abisaab, 20, is a volunteer for Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, a grassroots organization that works to raise awareness in communities and media of the human and legal rights of Palestinian refugees. Abisaab, who grew up in Queens, N.Y., first became involved with the movement after the Gaza Massacre, a three-week conflict that took place in the Gaza strip during the winter of 2008-2009. (Israel refers to the conflict as the War in the South.)

“1,400 people murdered, 13,000 wounded,” she says. “That was a wake-up call.”

Abisaab hopes to see the Israeli Navy members who attacked the Mavi Marmara from helicopters and surrounding boats, spraying the gunfire which killed at least nine activists aboard and wounded dozens, with murder.

“They shot a 19-year-old four times in the head and once in the chest—that’s not self-defense,” she says, referring to Furkan Dorgan, an American-Turkish dual citizen who was born in Troy, N.Y., and was one of those shot during the conflict. A recent development is that another American citizen who remains unidentified was wounded in the raid, and a third, Emily Henochowicz, 21, of Potomac, Md., lost an eye in a subsequent protest in Jerusalem when members of the Israeli Army unleashed tear gas, hitting her in the eye with a canister. Henochowicz, a Cooper Union student and aspiring artist, was studying at Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design at the time and has since returned to the United States.

In the long term, Abisaab hopes for peace, one democratic secular state where refuges can return to their homes and Israelis can stay as well, but fears that without U.S. government pressure on Israel, nothing will change.

“All the support and silence comes from the U.S.,” she says. “As long as the [United States] blindly supports Israel, it’s going to be hard.”

As the rally in New York City proceeded across 42nd street, tourists paused to gawk and take photos. Surrounding business owners and passersby yelled “Murderers” and “Go Home.” Volunteers from the sponsoring organizations of the rally remained on the periphery of the group guiding and containing the crowd and encouraged those marching to not respond to the outbursts.

Bob Nash, 67, of Cold Spring, Long Island was not surprised by the backlash the crowd faced. “We [the United States] needed a new enemy, so we got the Muslim-Americans,” says Nash, who heard about the rally on New York’s Free Speech radio station, WBAI, and decided to join the march.

One of the marchers who remained completely unfazed by the harassment was Mohamed Abeelghani, 13, of Clifton, N.J., Abeelghani emerged as the unexpected leader of the rally, marching in front and walking backwards in order to face the crowd and yell chant after chant. Abeelghani, who learned about the rally at his local mosque in New Jersey, wore a Palestinian flag on his head and carried a bottle of water to keep cool.

“I hope the war ends and we get peace,” he says. “We can all live in peace together.”

When recalling how he came to be the leader, Abeelghani shrugs his shoulders and says, “Well, I was here on Monday and then I came back today—I don’t know, I think it’s ‘cause I have the loudest voice.”

Abeelghani’s commanding voice certainly did help, but his relentless energy and devotion to his cause at such a young age clearly inspired the crowd.

When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, Abeelghani’s answered without hesitation, “Peacemaker.”

Madeleine Dubus is a staff writer for Campus Progress and a writing fellow at The New School.

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