CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Protestors took to the streets in Uptown Charlotte Saturday calling for a ceasefire in Palestine.
This was just one of the many rallies that took place across the country - all a part of the “Millions March for Palestine.”
“I’m a minority so I’m very affectionate about anything that has to do with anything like this. People being oppressed, people being slaughtered, people being murdered for who they are and what they believe in should not be a thing,” said protestor Hailey Byrd.
“We hope to have policy impact with the elected officials to put America first. When politicians say ‘America first,’ they give money to Israel when there’s a government shutdown,” protestor Leith Shehadh explained.
Some of the chants that echoed the streets were “Free, free Palestine” and “defund the genocide,” and protestors say they’re hoping to get the ear of Charlotte’s City Council as they’ve “had enough.”
“I am Palestinian. My entire family is Palestinian. I grew up there. We’ve had constant people just not knowing what’s going on with the current genocide, with our current tax dollars paying for that. We just need to march the streets and let people know that we will not stand silent to it,” Khalid Shahin said.
Another protestor, Jabril Hough, says this is not the first rally he’s been to in support of Palestine.
“I’ve been fighting this fight for 25 years. It’s sad that we have a second generation of people that were babies when I started protesting and now they’re helping to lead the movement because we have second and third generations that can’t even go back to Palestine. And people tell us to wait and be patient. Our patience is running thin,” he explained.
The Jewish Voice for Peace group took part in the rally and they say they hope their support encourages others to follow suit.
“It’s important for Jews to show solidarity with Palestinians and to show we support Palestinians in their struggle for liberation and that it’s a false narrative that Israel speaks for all Jews,” group member Mitch Bollag said. “We feel that we have a triple responsibility as humans – to see something as inhumane as what’s happening in Gaza – as Jews because what’s happening is happening in our name in a false narrative, and because we’re Americans and it’s our tax dollars funding the genocide."
Protestors say until change starts, they plan to keep rallying for as long as it takes.
Contact Anna King at aking2@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.