By: Chase Zagurski
A coalition of Nebraska-based pro-Palestine activist groups wrapped its “Week of Action” Saturday with a demonstration at Omaha’s Memorial Park.
The gathering was held on Saturday, Oct. 10 from noon to 3 p.m. Attendees flew kites, practiced traditional Palestinian dabka dancing and participated in a workshop on boycotting and divestment from companies that support Israel, followed by a peaceful picket protest along Dodge Street.
The event drew members and supporters of various Nebraska-based pro-Palestine groups, including Nebraskans for Palestine (NFP), Students for Justice in Palestine UNO (SJP UNO) and Healthcare Workers for Palestine Nebraska (HCWPNE). Representatives of each organization gave remarks about the current situation in the Palestinian territories.
On Friday, Oct. 9, the night before the Memorial Park gathering, the UNO SJP held a banner decoration workshop at Zaytuna Mediterranean Cuisine on 72nd Street.
Attendees were invited to write the names of Palestinians that had been killed during Israel’s occupation onto small craft kites, which were then pinned onto a banner bearing the slogan “From the river to the see, Palestine will be free.” The banner was held from the Dodge Street Overpass during Saturday’s streetside demonstration.
The “Week of Action” was placed to coincide with the three-year anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that ignited the Israel-Hamas War and plunged the Middle East into an ongoing period of instability and military crisis. The Oct. 7 attacks left some 1,200 Israelis dead and 251 taken as hostages while, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, the Israeli invasion of Gaza has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians.
Opinion on the Israel-Palestine conflict has shifted significantly in the years since Hamas’ attack and Israel’s invasion of Gaza. According to YouGov polling released in July, roughly 43% of Americans would now characterize Israeli treatment of Palestinians as genocide.
Despite that, SJP UNO President Iman Pearson said that attention around to the Israel-Palestine conflict has waned. Pearson attributed some of that to the currently in-effect ceasefire in Gaza, which Israel and Hamas signed on Oct. 9 of last year and that went into effect the next day.
Pearson argued that agreement was only a ceasefire in name, and that Palestinians were still being killed every day while it was in effect. He went further to say that initiatives like the “Week of Action” were valuable to bring eyes back to the cause and alert people that Palestine continues to struggle.
“Having it at Memorial Park, it’s a very visible spot,” Pearson said at Zaytuna. “It brings attention back to the issue, since after the ceasefire people said, ‘oh, the problem’s over,’ even though it really is not.”
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, over 1,100 Palestinians have been directly killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire took effect.
Sabrina Stratman, a registered nurse and volunteer for both HCWPNE and NFP, attended the Memorial Park gathering as a featured speaker and protest safety marshal. She highlighted the demonstration’s focus on Palestinian culture and joy, as well as its high visibility in a prominent place in the city, as keys tools in the coalition’s fight to keep Palestine in the heart of the Omaha community.
“Now more than ever people are willing to stand up for Palestinian liberation and against the Israeli apartheid, so it’s important for us to get together and know what our next steps are,” Stratman said. “It’s not just about one protest, but about what we can do continually.”
