NEWBURGH – On a dreary cold, rainy day in the City of Newburgh Sunday, activists and residents gathered to voice their support for Palestinians with a March for Free Palestine rally.
Marchers gathered at the city’s activity center on Washington Street for speeches before heading out for a walk down Broadway. Those gathering were also urged to call Congressman Pat Ryan to support a lasting ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and oppose any further additional military aid to Israel.
Mie Inouye, a protest organizer, said the is whatever political agreement can create a state that where everyone Palestinians and Jewish people, are free in an equal system.
“It could be a two-state solution, it could be a one-state solution, we don’t have a position on that, and I don’t think it’s our goal to decide, but we know the only way to keep actually keep Palestinians and Israelis safe is to have an end to the occupation of Palestine, whatever that looks like.”
She said her group’s two demands right now are a permanent ceasefire and “to stop sending our tax dollars to Israel to fund the genocide of Palestinian people that’s happening right now and to fund the apartheid system,” Inouye.
It’s estimated Hamas militants killed 1,200 Israelis during the surprise attack from Gaza on October 7. The Israelis have responded with airstrikes on Gaza since then, killing an estimated 15,000 Palestinians so far.
Inouye said a safe place to live for both Palestinians and Israelis is the solution to end the current conflict and for the future of these peoples.
