Dozens of pro-Palestine demonstrators gathered at the steps of the Boston Public Library, or BPL, at Copley Square Jan. 16 to celebrate the recent ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas and bring attention to their ongoing push to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine and cease U.S. aid to Israel’s military.
The rally, organized by various Boston-based and national organizations, including the Palestinian Youth Movement and the Boston Coalition for Palestine, came in the wake of the Jan. 15 announcement from President Joe Biden and the prime minister of Qatar that Israel and Hamas had negotiated a temporary, multi-phase ceasefire agreement. The ceasefire is a significant step towards an end to the violence in Gaza, but demands to end U.S. aid to Israel and hold Israel accountable were at the forefront of the rally’s message.
Hannah Didehbani, a recent graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, spoke to members at the rally. She said in an interview that while the ceasefire is a major victory for Palestine, demonstrations of solidarity and advocacy remain vital.
“We’re here first in celebration of [the ceasefire], for the relief of the people of Gaza who have been under genocide for over 400 days,” Didehbani said. “And also, we need to continue organizing because our job is not over until Palestine is free.”
According to the Palestinian Civil Defense, Israeli strikes have killed at least 77 people since the announcement of the ceasefire, and while the deal does not officially take effect until Jan. 19, Didehbani expressed concerns that Israel and its U.S. allies may not comply with the deal given the recent attacks.
“I feel like this is a pattern, always in the last moments before liberation is when the oppressor is going to tighten its grip around the neck of the people that it’s oppressing,” Didehbani said.
“Part of our job and why we’re here is to continue organizing and make sure we’re holding our government accountable so that we don’t see this [violence] anymore.”
Didehbani began her activism while at MIT, where she helped lead demonstrations as part of the wave of student protests that made international news last spring. Similar to last year’s student protests, the Copley Square rally was met with hostility when a few masked individuals walked through the crowd and repeatedly shouted, “terrorist” while Didehbani and other speakers addressed the crowd.
Lea Kayali, a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement and Palestinian herself, served as an organizer with the Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine coalition before she graduated from Harvard Law School last year. Kayali said that despite the opposition they often face, student activists are incredibly impactful not only within their own school communities, but in the larger movement as well.
“The student movement has inspired the movement around the world for freedom for Palestinians and all of us, really,” Kayali said. “It has infused an energy into the movement to keep going because we see that our universities, especially in Boston, are also agents of the same mechanisms of oppression that are leading to Palestinians being murdered in our homeland.”
Kayali described how student activists in Boston have a unique opportunity to shed light on the ways their universities have contributed to oppression.
“Northeastern, for example, is an agent of gentrification in Roxbury; MIT has partnerships with the Israeli Ministry of Defense and Harvard has deep ties to the Israeli government through fellowships that they’ve funded.” Kayali said. “All of these institutions play a part in the war machine and to see students taking to the streets and calling out these connections really does inspire us and their community.”
Rally attendee Stephanie Houten said she became involved in student activism while studying at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design as part of the Coalition to Organize and Mobilize Boston Against Trump, or COMBAT. COMBAT, composed of students from across the Boston area, originally formed after President Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016. Houten said that Trump’s second term will bring an increased need for organizations like this rally.
“The struggle is going to intensify when [Trump] takes office,” Houten said in an interview. “There’s a lot of work to be done. It’s not anywhere near over, and this is just the beginning.”
Houten said that she attended the rally to contribute to the work of the pro-Palestine movement as an American.
“I came out [to the rally] because I’m really glad to hear that there’s a ceasefire in the works, but I also know that that doesn’t mean the fight is over,” she said. “As an American citizen, I have to keep showing out to support Palestine because my government is actively committing a genocide against them so I need to do everything I can to stop that.”
Houten also described how the setting of the rally was particularly significant in her eyes, as it occurred at the end of the work day in a very visible place. She also commented on the symbolism of the demonstrators speaking in front of the BPL.
“You can see people commuting home from work right now. It’s a busy spot so it’s a good place to be visible,” Houten said. “And with the public library right here, it’s a good statement to be in front of an institution that’s supposed to serve people.”
Despite frigid temperatures, the afternoon rally continued into the night, with more demonstrators joining as time went on. Volunteers in Palestinian keffiyehs and high-visibility vests handed out hand warmers and face masks to attendees. Spirits seemed high among demonstrators, and Kayali expressed a sense of hope, echoing the popular chant led by Didehbani in the background: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
“We know that liberation is on the horizon,” Kayali said. “So we simply will not stop organizing to cut ties with Zionism and Israel until we can achieve full liberation, from the river to the sea.”
