Oshkosh Stands in Solidarity With Palestine

Oshkosh, WI – On May 14 members of United Action Oshkosh (UAO) and supporters assembled in the Opera House Square on Main Street to publicly condemn the mass murder of more than 50 unarmed Palestinians by Israeli Defense Forces, to demonstrate solidarity with the Palestinians mission to reclaim their homeland, and to oppose the move of the U.S. embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The large-scale violence comes on the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, or “The Catastrophe”, the date to mark when the Palestinians were forcefully expelled from their homeland by the Israelis.

UAO denounced the massacres of Palestinians, by proudly marching down Main Street holding signs that read, “Oppose mass murder, oppose Israel!”, chanting, “From Palestine to the Philippines, stop the U.S. war machine!” and waving a Palestinian flag.

The actions were met by the community with positivity, honks and waves from passing cars, questions from curious passers-by, and even acts of solidarity like raised fists and shouts such as, “The free people of the world will not be silent!”

Oshkosh community member Paul Farmer, a member of a Palestine solidarity group called Team Save Gaza, was happy to see others in the city demonstrating in support of the Palestinian resistance.

“Words cannot really describe the horrors of what is happening in Palestine,” Farmer said. “Gaza is the world’s largest open-air concentration camp, with some 2 million people blockaded by air, land and sea for 12 years now.”

Farmer continued, “The people who are lucky have around three hours of electricity a day. Hospitals have run out of many medications. The people are desperate, many suffer from psychological disorders, the effects of the weekly, if not daily bombings, shootings and noise of the drones overhead every night. 80% of Gazans rely on outside help for their basic needs.”

UAO is following up this demonstration with one on Sunday, May 20, which will be a celebration of Palestinian culture that will feature food, music, children’s games and speakers. These types of events are all a part of UAO’s goal to foster unity among the working class and the oppressed nationality people within the city.