Jacksonville, FL – While heat warnings shortened celebrations of the 250th July 4, the Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network took to the hot Florida pavement to protest U.S. aggression both domestically and abroad, including its support for the genocide in Gaza.
The rally started at Memorial Park in the heart of Riverside, where members of organizations spoke on the injustices carried out by the U.S.
A member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) told the crowd, “Over the last three years, at least 75,000 Palestinians have been murdered in Israel’s genocide in Gaza, which the United States government has been bankrolling, another 1200 citizens in Syria killed in the regime change in their country, and another 3600 Iranians killed in the senseless war against their country and as if that’s not bad enough, we have another 100 civilians of Venezuela killed in the kidnapping of their president, Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores.” The crowd yelled “Shame!” in response.
Focus was also brought to the attacks the Trump administration has made on immigrant communities. Crystal Aguilar of the Jacksonville Immigrant Rights Alliance stated, “250 years of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But for who? Certainly not for me, or for the millions of working-class people living in America. Not for the immigrants who die crossing the border every day to enter this country, those who have died in ICE detention, and those whose labor is being exploited by greedy corporations. Is this what we choose to stand for? Is this what we are going to continue to allow in our country?” The crowd yelled back, “No!”
The rally became mobile as the participants began marching down Riverside Avenue toward the bustling arts market hosted under the Fuller Warren Bridge. Patrons of the market could hear the marchers steadily approach as the chanting and drumming grew louder. Anyone in the vicinity could hear roars of, “No boots on the ground, no bombs in the air! U.S. out of everywhere!”
The chants echoed across the market with the help of the bridge’s acoustics. Ryan Delaney of the Anti-War Action Network (AWAN) and a co-organizer of the march addressed the market’s attendees: “We are out here today as part of a national day of action called by the Anti-War Action Network. We are organizing in cities around the country, saying that we reject this idea of 250 years of freedom when we continue to take the freedom away from people around the world and in our own country.”
Most of the market patrons stopped what they were doing to see what was going on. They listened intently as a call to action was issued, “Everybody who’s here at the Riverside Arts Market, I want you all to know that we are going to continue to fight for this. And we want all of you to get involved. We want every single person here to wake up and rise to this occasion and get ready for the real fight ahead of us. So for every single one of y’all out here, if you’re with us, we want y’all to march with us. Because we are going to continue to march, and we’re going to go back to Memorial Park, where we’re going to continue our program.”
The march made its way back to Memorial Park with more people than it had started with. Upon returning, the attendees cooled down in the shade. Food and water were distributed as folks socialized and built community.
#JacksonvilleFL #FL #AntiWarMovement #JPSN
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