NORTHAMPTON — Pro-Palestinian activists in Hampshire County urged people to look at the start of war between Israel and Islamic nationalist organization Hamas in a historical context, though nearly all of those at a downtown rally Monday distanced themselves from the violence by Hamas that triggered the current conflict.
A crowd of around 50 people demonstrated in front of the Hampshire County Courthouse in support of Palestinians, blaming the war on decades of what they say is an apartheid-like system of Israeli settlements in the Palestinian-controlled West Bank and the oppression of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which has a population of more than 2 million and is walled off by Israel.
The event was organized by Massachusetts Peace Action (MAPA), an organization that holds demonstrations across the state. Merriam Ansara, a member of MAPA from Easthampton, urged participants at the event to continue to hold rallies and contact their local elected officials to express their dissatisfaction with the Israeli government.
“We’re going to tell them that the United States must stop sending arms to Israel and must stop the unequal treatment of people,” she said. “Every single person in Gaza is at risk now.”
Ruya Hazeyen, a Palestinian student at UMass Amherst who leads the group UMass Students for Justice in Palestine, also spoke at the event, telling the crowd that the attacks by Hamas should be unsurprising given historical treatment of Palestinians by Israel, which she likened to colonialism.
“If you push a cat into a corner hard enough, she’s going to scratch you and fight back,” she said. “People will fight back when they are under brutalization, dehumanization and in an open air prison, which is what Gaza is.”
She said there would be further demonstrations at the UMass campus in the coming days and weeks.
The rally also featured several songs performed by Benjamin Grosscup, a musician from Greenfield, written about Gaza and Palestine.
“We all abhor violence. Violence destroys lives,” Grosscup said during the rally. “And yet, how are we to respond when a subject population fights back? The Palestinian struggle for national self-determination is legitimate.”
At one point during the demonstration, there was an interruption by a passerby, a young male wearing a black motorcycle helmet and riding a scooter, who yelled at the protestors accusing them of supporting terrorism and that Gaza deserved to be attacked by Israel.
“You all should die,” he told the crowd. “Level Gaza.”
Undeterred, the demonstrators surrounded the man, singing “We Shall Not Be Moved.” After some more arguing with some of the protesters, the man left.
Other activists in the region also agreed that the recent violence brought by Hamas needed to be placed in a larger context, and that all Palestinians should not be lumped together with Hamas.
“It’s really frustrating for me as an American Jew when people will ask where the moderate political party in Palestine is,” said Rachel Weber, an attorney in Hampshire County who has previously organized rallies with national organization Jewish Voice for Peace. “The devastation permeates every aspect of life in Gaza. So that’s not a great climate for fostering political moderation.”
Weber, who did not attend Monday’s rally, acknowledged that it was a scary time for many Israelis and their families, and that she was against violence, but said that peace would be unattainable without acknowledging the historical situation.
“(Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu isn’t calling for calm,” Weber said. “I don’t want anyone to die. I don’t want Israelis on the ground to die, I don’t want Palestinians to die, I don’t want bombs falling on anyone. We’re not going to have meaningful conversations about how we got here, which I think are required to map a way forward, without looking at where we came from.”