Hundreds Rally for Palestine and Against AIPAC Outside Israel Lobby's Largest Annual Meeting

By Nadrat Siddique

March 24, 2019
Washington, DC

The nation's capital evidenced one of the most vibrant and energetic pro-Palestine protests today. The "Support Palestine in DC" protest was spearheaded by Al-Awda (the Palestine Right to Return Coalition) and the ANSWER Coalition, and was audaciously scheduled--as it is each year--to coincide with the annual AIPAC. At the AIPAC conference, pro-Israel delegates come together to instrument policies TO facilitate the continued fleecing of the American public to the tune of $6 billion per annum in support of the occupation and genocide of the Palestinian people. And for years, the AIPAC conference went on without any opposition. Until Al-Awda and a few other organizations with a concern for basic human rights and international law came around.

Although the protest has been held each year for at least a decade, sadly, few local masajid--and next to no local Muslim leaders--bother to attend. Despite the local Muslim/ Arab "leadership" abdicating their responsibility to engage in amr bil mauroof and nahi unal munkari on an issue of paramount importance to the Ummah, the protest went on very successfully. Starting at 12:00 noon, over 1,000 people spanning the spectrum of age, ethnicity, faith, gender, and national origin, rallied at the White House and then marched to the Convention Center, site of the AIPAC conference. Unlike at many previous pro-Palestine protests, most of the key leaders, organizers, and speakers were Palestinians, heartening in a time when the liberal Left often engages in its own imperial patriarchy, speaking for P.O.C. with the perfect ability to speak for themselves.

Also heartening was the fact that youth--Palestinian and non-Palestinian alike--articulately answered the Zionist rhetoric and lies. At today's protest, they appeared more well-versed and organized than ever, speaking confidently and non-rhetorically, from the mic as well as in in conversations with bye-standers.

Ilhan Omar: A Leader of Men

So, Ilhan Omar, the beautiful young Somali-American Muslim woman, a former refugee and now D-MN in Congress, has changed the entire dialogue on "Israel." She has forced the discussion of U.S. aid to Israel. And, if one accepts the premise that "Israel's" inflation-laden economy is heavily dependent on the $6 billion dollars plus allocated it by the U.S., the entire exististence of the colonial settler state could be in question. This young woman has, standing in the Belly of the Beast, raised the critical question of whether criticism of "Israel" constitutes anti-semitism. She also propounded potential dual loyalty of American Zionists to Israel and the U.S. as an issue. This is something generations of big-bellied, bearded, Qur'an spouting, five-times-a-day-praying, Sunnah Path invoking, "no-politics-in-the-mosque, sister" declaring, rich-food gorging, Muslim men could not achieve in decades. To the tune of death threats, and at great risk to herself and her family, the 37-year old mother of three children said what needed to be said. So, free advice to the Muslim men: Stop hating, and support her, whether or not you agree with her on every single side issue. Even the dismantling of Apartheid had to start somewhere.