10,000 march in Chicago: Hands off Jerusalem

Chicago, IL – The Coalition for Justice for Palestine in Chicago rallied and marched to the Israeli Consulate in Chicago May 12. 10,000 people from the Palestinian community and their supporters chanted, “Free, free Palestine!” And “Netanyahu, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide!”

A new chant seemed to tap into the emotion of the crowd: “The only solution, Intifada revolution!”

Overwhelmingly youth from the Arab community, the march was called in response to the attacks by Zionist mobs and Israeli police in Jerusalem, and the Israeli occupation military in air strikes against the people of Gaza. As of May 12, 65 Palestinians have been killed, including many children. Hundreds have been seriously wounded in both Gaza and Jerusalem.

According to the US Palestinian Community Network, the violent attacks on Palestinians started with Israeli efforts to forcibly displace over 2000 Palestinians from the neighborhoods of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan – as part of the ongoing ethnic cleansing and ‘Judaization’ of Jerusalem.

Frank Chapman of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and Erica Kadel of Freedom Road Socialist Organization both gave solidarity speeches at rallies before the march, and in front of the Israeli consulate, respectively.