Went to a Palestinian solidarity protest/rally with some new folks who’d become radicalised against America/the West over the last six months. They aren’t socialists (yet, I’m working on it) - but they’re good people. So, seeing the genocide and its support by our governments filled them with disgust. We talked about the Nakba, the history of Zionism, and the current apartheid etc.
Now, we come to the protest.
Overall, the atmosphere was incredible. Lots of cool signs, different kinds of people, and, of course the pigs. That’s not the problem.
The problem was the fucking speakers. I swear, at least half of them had to be feds whose entire job was to turn people away from turning up at these events.
Some of them, and I mean this literally, wanted the crowd to chant “we support October 7” and “we stand with Hamas”.
I swear, the way the people I was with turned to look at me.
Not every speaker was like this - most were genuine. They talked of labor solidarity, campus organizing, personal anecdotes. But all of that made these speakers stand out all the more.
The worst part is that when it would happen, the organisers was one of them. So this entire thing was a sham from the start.
I feel so bad. I shouldn’t have just brought people to a random protest I saw and should’ve vetted it first.
Like, seriously. I can’t fucking get over this. Who organizes a protests of people from all walks of life in support of Palestine and wants them to chant we stand with Hamas and let’s do one hundred more October 7s?.
Jesus fucking Christ.
Like, of fucking course Hamas is a natural reaction to apartheid and ethnic cleansing and genocide. And of course Oct 7 is nothing compared to the 200 days that followed since (or the 75 years that preceded it). But come the fuck on.
An potentially anti war crowd being asked to chant slogans that are pro military action is cringe but there's nothing wrong with being asked to support the local government of the resistance/people being genocided.
I feel like it’s something you’d have to see for yourself to actually get a feel for the vibe. On an ideological level the people involved in the Oct 7 raid were as brave as the red army soldiers who liberated the camps, but on an irl level I can see where OP is coming from where some random is telling you to openly admire a recognized terrorist organization possibly for the purpose of escalating a protest into violence. If a good portion aren’t as ideologically committed as you are and things get ugly you’re just going to get your shit rocked by security forces while the libs around you run. Basically if you’re going to go all in and openly support Hamas in a protest, it’s most likely better to organize one with more committed supporters.