This month has been an especially horrific one in the nearly two-year-long genocide of Gaza. Israel is intentionally starving Gazans, threatening total occupation, and expanding their ethnic cleansing of Palestinian land to the West Bank. But this has all only fueled greater support for the movement for Palestine. The passive sympathy for Palestine which has been growing for a long time has begun to show more publicly. This was apparent in the August 16 rally for Gaza in New York City.

The action was initially called by Palestinian Youth Movement and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, groups which have regularly called mobilizations since the start of the genocide. In the lead-up to the day of action it received support from other prominent organizations and public figures including Jewish Voice for Peace, Labor for Palestine, Gaza-based journalist Bisan Owda, and rapper and activist Macklemore. The action was even shared by 50501, the liberal NGO which has formed in response to Trump’s return to presidency and called national days of action which have mobilized hundreds of thousands in the streets. This was the first time the organization called to mobilize against the genocide, bringing in a base of supporters which are not as directly linked to the main organizations of Palestine movement.

Palestinian activist and former political prisoner Mahmoud Khalil was one of the speakers at the rally.

“They will never silence us,” Khalil said to a roaring crowd. “They will never succeed at silencing us, but Israel is trying. Systematically. Deliberately. And they are doing it with American bombs, with American cover, with American tax money, your money! They want us to think that our voices are useless, that we should give up. But trust me, we are shattering their complicity.”

The rally included human rights organizations, anti-Zionist Jewish organizations, Palestinian organizations, unions, the Left, Chris Smalls of the Amazon Labor Union, and Mahmoud Kahlil, alongside teachers, healthcare workers, and parents with young children. Left Voice also spoke with Puerto Rican and LGBTQ+ activists who made connections between their own communities and the oppression that Palestinians are facing. The crowd was a clear reflection of how the movement for Palestine mobilizes people from all different backgrounds who are outraged at the genocide and the support the United States has provided for Israel’s crimes.

Manny Perez, a Black and Puerto Rican activist, told Left Voice Puerto Rico’s history of occupation compelled him to support Palestine.

“We are definitely connected,” Perez said. “Back in the 1800s Puerto Rico was bombed. We’re still occupied by the United States… It’s only right for me to stand with Palestine.”

Arthur, a gay protester who travelled from New Jersey also spoke about how Palestine connects to other struggles against oppression. “We’re all being oppressed by the same fist.” He highlighted the role that capitalist media plays in oppression against different communities, holding a sign that read “NY Times Remember This? Silence + DEATH,” a reference to the New York Times’ complicity in covering up the AIDS crisis and now their complicty in covering up the genocide.

“The New York Times is still operating the same way,” Arthur said. “They put all of the obfuscating language around children being starved… They can never just state it like a fact.”

Despite the efforts of mainstream media and other pro-Zionist and imperialist institutions, the protest showed the historic break in support for Israel that has grown since October 7, 2023. This phenomenon is global, with the protest in New York City following significant marches in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Argentina and brave attempts by activists to break the siege on Gaza through the Freedom Flotilla and the Global March to Gaza.

Importantly, labor has been taking up the movement more with dockworkers in Europe refusing to ship weapons to Israel, NEA teachers voting to cut ties with Zionist organizations, and other expressions of rank and file workers organizing their unions and their workplaces in solidarity with Palestine. This dynamic was expressed by Chris Smalls, one of the founders of the Amazon Labor Union who joined the Freedom Flotilla. Smalls spoke at the rally, calling out the complicity of labor unions.

“Some of these labor leaders are fucking complicit too,” Smalls told the crowd. “They are participating actively by shipping arms and manufacturing weapons to Israel.”

Even as the genocide continues and countries from the United States to imperialist Europe to complacent Arab regimes like Egypt and Jordan ramp up their repression, the movement has not been defeated. Global protests and workers using the power of their labor to support the Palestinian struggle are growing. Opposition to the repression, the genocide, and the occupation of Palestine was in full force in New York City today and it resonates around the world.