Hundreds march in pro-Palestine rally outside Worcester City Hall

WORCESTER ― Hundreds of Palestinian national flags fluttered in front of City Hall on Friday afternoon as a crowd of more than 300 people rallied amid news of a four-day ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Tatiana Carrion of Worcester said she organized the demonstration with other members of the Worcester Solidarity Coalition to show their support of Palestine and its people, who she said “are unable to leave their house without getting bombed.”

Hamas’ surprise attack on Oct. 7, which left more than 1,200 dead and another 240 captured as hostages, ignited a response by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip, which the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says has as of Sunday cost the lives of more than 12,000 Palestinians.

In the war, 3,600 Palestinian children have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Music in the Arabic language — songs that Carrion said Palestinian people identified with — often played through speakers set up by organizers starting at 2 p.m.

The crowd marched by the Worcester Common, looping through Mercantile, Foster and Commercial streets and back to the front of City Hall.

Throughout the march, a megaphone was passed around with different voices leading chants like, “Gaza, Gaza, don’t you cry, Palestine will never die.” Others condemned the American government's support for Israel, saying, “Israel bombs, USA pays, how many kids did you kill today?”

Zaina Mahmoud, another member of the Worcester Solidarity Coalition, said the organization chose to hold the event on Black Friday on purpose, citing U.S. tax dollars used to fund the Israeli military response.

Earlier this month, the House of Representatives approved more than $14 billion to aid Israel aid in its response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“The day takes the attention off what’s really happening,” said Mahmoud. “They're funding the Israeli government to continue to carpet-bomb and kill civilians."

Carrion echoed Mahmoud.

“Black Friday contributes a lot to capitalism, and capitalism contributes to war,” said Carrion. “We want this to take the eye off from the attention of sales and more on the people who are dying — people who couldn't make it to this day.”

Nidal Mohammad, a 60-year-old man who was born in Nablus, a Palestinian city 30 miles north of Jerusalem, often greeted familiar faces with a handshake and the Arabic-language greeting “As-salamu alaykum.”

Although his family left Palestine when he was 2, Mohammad said to have always followed the conflict from afar, saying "How can I forget?”

Among the Palestinian flags, there were others from other Arab countries, including a Tunisian flag that was unfurled early in the rally.

While donning a Brazilian flag, tied around the neck, Junior Almeida, a 17-year-old from Natick, chanted “Free, free Palestine” through a megaphone.

“I want people to know that my people stand in solidarity with Palestine,” said Almeida. “We as Americans have become very desensitized to the suffering of brown people, but here we are the same people that felt a type of way when we saw the war in Ukraine, and we saw those white babies being involved in conflict the way it is.

“No one seems to sympathize when it comes to Palestinians.”

The crowd continued their chanting and music until around 4 p.m. Not long before, Ahmed Morad of Westborough adjusted a white scarf with fishnet pattern and tassels around his son’s head, Yusuf.

While holding onto a pole with the Palestinian flag at the end, Yusuf swung in place with one leg raised as Morad used his phone to video-record with the rallying crowd in the background.

Morad, originally from Egypt, offered his pronunciation of the Arabic word for the scarf as "kufiyeh" — a piece of clothing symbolizing support for the Palestine.

His son, Morad said, was recreating a years-ago viral video of a Palestinian young boy dancing in front of a burning tank, which he saw as a symbol of “standing up” and "not being scared."

“We should stop the double standard and we should look at the Palestinians as humans, not as numbers,” said Morad. “We shouldn't call them Hamas, and I don't care about Hamas.

“I care about Palestinian kids. We should stop bombing kids and innocent people.”

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Pro-Palestine rally draws hundreds in downtown Worcester Mass.