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300,000 march on DC for ceasefire in Palestine

March in DC for ceasefire in Palestine.--Photo courtesy of ANSWER, Act Now to Stop War and End Racism

Among the 300,000 persons marching on Nov. 4 on Washington, DC, for a ceasefire in Palestine were two PeaceWorks KC leaders. Early reports indicated 100,000 were marching, but by Nov. 5, a march cosponsor, ANSWER, Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, said 300,000 participated.

The two PeaceWorks leaders in the massive march were Cris Mann, PeaceWorks chair, and Ann Suellentrop, a vice chair, who was accompanied by her niece, Liz Suellentrop of the DC area. Among various groups, the African People’s Socialist Party and other Black groups brought 150 persons to the march, said Mann. Nov. 4 was long scheduled, Mann said, as the 15th Annual Black People’s March to the White House.

ANSWER termed the National March on Washington “a political earthquake that shook the Biden Administration to its core,” noting, “In a country where support for Palestine was an absolute political taboo not so long ago, it is almost unthinkable that in the midst of wall-to-wall media demonization, people from all across the country would demonstrate in unprecedented numbers.”

ANSWER and other groups called for a shutdown for Palestine on Thursday, Nov. 9. “There will be no business as usual as long as the Palestinian people are being subjected to a genocide paid for with our tax dollars,” said ANSWER. “From walk-outs to pickets at Israeli embassies to protests at companies that profiteer from Israeli apartheid—or symbolic actions like wearing kuffiyehs or black armbands—we will keep this people’s movement growing.”

Mann said the ANSWER march and the Black People’s March “supported and complemented each other.” She highlighted “the Cointelpro-styled attack on the homes of the leaders of the African People’s Socialist Party” on July 29, leading to charges against the Uhuru 3 (with Uhuru meaning freedom). Mann continued, “The Uhuru 3 are charged with being agents of Russia under the Espionage Act. The Black Is Back coalition is demanding that the government drop the charges against the Uhuru 3.” The major components of the Uhuru movement, she said, are peace, reparations, and freedom for Palestine.

The Uhuru marchers on Nov. 5 participated in a teach-in about Palestine and other issues related to Africans in the US and worldwide. Mann said Chairman Omali Yeshiteila said from the podium Nov. 5, “When people lose their homes, this means death will follow. This is happening in Palestine. This is happening in St. Louis. This is happening everywhere. We are Palestine.”

© 2023, Ann Suellentrop, Cris Mann, Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 4.0 International License

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