Jackson demonstrators call for peace, respect for Palestinian human rights

In front of the International Museum of Muslim Culture, a crowd of about 40 people, including Jackson resident Delana Tavakol, chanted in support of Palestine and the safety of Palestinian civilians.

The group comprised largely of religious leaders, students and members of Jackson's Muslim community. They say they showed up to lend their voice to a growing movement demanding the human rights of Palestinian civilians be respected as the conflict develops. 

Several speakers clarified their show of support was not for Hamas, but rather Palestinian civilians. 

“The past week has been horrific to watch since the attack by Hamas. Israeli collective punishment of Palestinians not just in this past week, but in the past 75 years just for being Palestinian on their own land, has been horrific. It's a genocide,” said Tavakol, a Jackson resident who helped organize the demonstration. “Israel has been committing apartheid against indigenous Palestinians on their own land for 75 years. We're here to stop that.”

Officials in Israel have said at least 1,400 were killed following a surprise offensive launched into the eastern Mediterranean country by Islamist terror group Hamas on Oct. 7. 

The Palestinian Ministry for Health says at least 3,000 residents of the Gaza Strip – a thin, 25 mile-long strip of land cut off from the rest of Palestine by Israel – have been killed in response, with estimates of injured totaling more than 12,000 as of the time of publication. 

Chants of “Free, free Palestine,” and “No justice, no peace,” echoed through downtown for more than an hour under a cold wind. Many in the crowd held signs reading “not in my name” and “no to ground invasion,” emblazoned over the Palestinian flag.

Between rounds of chants and as legal observers looked on, speakers were careful to clarify they were attending the rally in their personal capacity for fear of possible retribution for showing support for Palestinian civilians, which they say is often misconstrued as antisemitism. 

Demonstrations last week across large cities in the United States and Europe drew crowds numbering in the hundreds of thousands echoing the same message. 

But in Jackson, almost 7,000 miles away from Gaza, those at the demonstration say they see a shared experience – and understanding – between conditions in the Gaza Strip and those of minority communities in Mississippi.

“I'm shocked at how many people in the West are finally developing the confidence to come out and say that what's happening right now, what has been happening for the last 75 years against indigenous Palestinians by the apartheid state of Israel, is not okay,” said Tavakol. 

“I'm not shocked that people in Jackson have come out to say that what's happening against Palestinians is not okay. The people in Jackson who've been here for so long know subjugation, oppression, occupation, apartheid, genocide, so I'm not shocked that the people in Jackson know that we need to stand with Palestine,” she said.

One of those speakers was Blake Feldman, who expressed dismay over unwavering support shown by American political leaders for Israel following Hamas’ attack, and said he felt like time was running out to prevent the conflict from worsening.

“When genocidal and dehumanizing language is used to rationalize group punishment and extreme violence against an oppressed civilian population, I know in my bones that it cannot go unchallenged. Literally hundreds of people, mostly young people and children, are being killed daily from indiscriminate bombing of residential buildings and civilian areas. I refuse to be silent, and we should refuse to be silent,” he said.

In the days following the attack, all of Mississippi’s congressional delegation expressed their own unwavering support for Israel and their right to defend themselves against an attack from Hamas.

In an interview with MPB’s Mississippi Edition last week, Second District Congressman Bennie Thompson said he was hoping the current leadership deadlock in the House of Representatives would soon lift so legislation directing aid to Israel could be drafted and voted on. 

Ameen Adbur Rashied, Imam at Masjid Muhammad Mosque in Jackson, said he was there to support the region’s Muslim population, as well as to clarify the intention of the demonstration. 

“We would like to send condolences to all of the innocent people killed on both sides of this conflict,” he said. “Understand that fighting against Zionism is not seeking all Jewish people as enemies, because there are Jewish people around the world who don't condone or support the occupation of Palestine. So we stand with our brothers and sisters in Palestine and we stand for justice.”

“We stand for the equity, equality and their inclusion in the decisions that are being made. And we don't support our dollars being spent to support this oppressive apartheid, racist regime.”

Toward the back of the demonstration and chanting alongside the demonstrators was New Horizon Church senior pastor Ronnie Cudrup – who was quick to condemn Hamas’ attack plainly as murder – but also implore American and by extension Israeli leaders to respect the human rights of Palestinians in Gaza regardless of their faith. 

“I'm here today because I certainly agree with the Jewish folk over the lives that were lost in the midst of this. But I'm also here today because Israel's response to that horrific offense certainly is not just – it is genocide,” he said. “The people that have lost their livelihoods, their residence, the farming and all of these things certainly are not proportional.” 

“And I am here to say to everybody who is life-loving: we cannot support genocide. The people in Gaza are human beings, whether they be Muslims, whether they be Christians, whether they have no faith. We cannot support genocide, And so I call upon all life loving people to make your voice be heard, because we cannot stand by and be complicit.”

The presence of both Imam Abu Rashied and Pastor Cudrup was indicative of the diverse makeup of the larger group: parents, children, college students, members of Jackson’s muslim community and even some passing by on their lunch break. 

Some older demonstrators said the current conflict is the worst violence they’ve seen in 50 years. Most described a deep frustration about American leaders' decision to show support to Israel – both symbolically and militarily – at such a contentious time, and when established human rights conventions are being so directly challenged.  

But for Tavakol, whose own parents immigrated to the U.S. from Iran, what matters most is that members of the community showed up at all to make their voices heard. 

“This is a nationwide and global movement, and it's not just D.C. and New York participating in it. What the people in Mississippi have to say is unique and special and it needs to be heard. We need to keep saying it so that people will listen to us and that people will take the state seriously,” she said. “I think that it is extremely important that Jackson, Mississippi, continues to be a part of this nationwide and global movement because people don't think that we would.”