Genocide: People’s Conference for Palestine Draws Thousands

The second annual People’s Conference for Palestine opened Friday afternoon, August 29, bringing together thousands of people of conscience in Detroit, Michigan. “Through this conference, I invite all of you to take part in the rich revolutionary tradition of Detroit,” said Nelson Garay, a member of Detroit’s People’s Assembly, a grassroots coalition fighting back against Trump’s policies. “In one voice, let us declare that we will not stand for the dehumanization of the Palestinian people, and we will not stand for anything less than their true liberation from a genocidal, apartheid state.”

Taher Dahleh, an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement and an activist in the labor movement through his membership in the Communication Workers of America, opened the conference by describing the major milestones in the Palestine solidarity movement since last year. “Millions marched to break the siege, flotillas set sail one after the other, doctors risked lives, went through repression, every single possible means to participate in medical missions to provide life-saving aid, and millions of workers, regular people, organized for an arms embargo, to demand that companies like Maersk halt all complicity and stop shipping weapons components to the occupation.”

Attendee of the People’s Conference for Palestine (Photo via People’s Conference for Palestine)

The conference is being organized by a coalition of 12 groups active in the broader Palestine solidarity movement: the Palestinian Youth Movement, the US Palestinian Community Network, The People’s Forum, Al-Awda: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, the Palestinian Feminist Collective, the ANSWER Coalition, the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee, the People’s Center for Palestine, National Students for Justice in Palestine, Writers Against the War on Gaza, and the Arab Resource Organizing Center (AROC).

Last year’s conference was held after a fierce wave of student protest against ongoing complicity of US institutions and government in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. This year, thousands of activists once again reconvene as the situation in Gaza reaches a humanitarian breaking point: the entire population of the Gaza Strip is being deliberately starved en masse by Israel.

“Freedom Flotillas” take a stand against mass starvation

In protest of Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid in Gaza, several “Freedom Flotillas” have set sail carrying life-saving supplies including food, baby formula, and medical supplies. Each of the three flotilla missions launched this year has been blocked by Israeli forces.

In one particularly brutal example of Israeli state repression, all the passengers aboard the most recent Flotilla, the Handala, were kidnapped by Israeli forces and held in custody by Israel. US labor activist Chris Smalls, also the only Black passenger aboard the Handala, faced the most brutal repression. “They choked him and kicked him in the legs, leaving visible signs of violence on his neck and back,” the Freedom Flotilla coalition wrote in a post on X. “When his lawyer met with him, Chris was surrounded by six members of Israel’s special police unit. This level of force was not used against other abducted activists.”

Chris Smalls makes opening remarks (Photo via People’s Conference for Palestine)

Smalls gave opening remarks at this year’s conference. “As a labor leader, it is our responsibility to be a shield for the working class,” Smalls said, addressing an auditorium of thousands. In 2022, Smalls led the successful effort to create the first union at an Amazon warehouse in the United States, the Amazon Labor Union. “It is our responsibility to stand up when things are uncomfortable, and take a stance.”

Victories in the global movement for an arms embargo

At last year’s People’s Conference for Palestine, the Palestinian Youth Movement announced the launch of “Mask Off Maersk,” an international organizing campaign aiming to expose the role of logistics giant Maersk in sending weapons components to Israel.

Through international pressure, this campaign has marked significant victories since last year. In June, Maersk became the first global shipping company to divest from companies in Israeli settlements. The campaign raised global awareness of Maersk’s role in supplying Israel, to the point where people across the globe mobilized against Maersk shipments. In April, Moroccan protesters successfully delayed Maersk ships leaving the country for Israel. In November of 2024, the Spanish government announced it had blocked two ships operated by shipping giant Maersk and carrying military cargo bound for Israel.

Palestinian Youth Movement organizers Aisha Nizar (Photo via People’s Conference for Palestine)

 Speaker Aisha Nizar, an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement, spoke at a plenary on the topic of the global demand for an arms embargo on the lessons learned from one year of the “Mask off Maersk” campaign. “We need to be surgical. We need to be strategic, and we need to be bold in our actions. Because there are many different points of these supply chains of death that we can intervene in, and we must intervene in.”

Courtesy: Peoples Dispatch