Through the Static

By Gray Trammel

Protesters gathered together on May 17 at Fisher Pavilion to commemorate the 78th anniversary of the Nakba before marching over a mile through downtown Seattle ending at Pike Place Market. Several activist and labor groups, including Nidal, Amazon Worker Intifada, and Seattle Against War hosted the event, and speakers tied the historical displacement of Palestinians to the ongoing genocide in Gaza: the Nakba never ended.

The Nakba, which is Arabic for the word “catastrophe,” references the displacement and slaughtering of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during 1948 when Zionists arrived to Palestine in droves and stole Indigenous land. And for almost three years, the Israeli military has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Annual commemorations for the Nakba are held around the world, and this year’s demonstrations come among continued international protests.

“This catastrophe is not simply a moment in history, but an ongoing catastrophe imposed upon the Palestinian people,” Bissan Barghouti, a member of Nidal, told TtS.

Protesters waved Palestinian flags, banged on drums, and held banners representing multiple solidarity groups. Signs that read “78 Years of Nakba,” “Freedom for All Palestinian Prisoners,” and “Seattle Against War,” were proudly held high as the group marched. Some demonstrators carried pickets that read “From the river to the sea Palestine will be Free.” For most of the speakers and attendees, the demonstration served as both remembrance and protest.

Speakers addressed the crowd at Pike Place Market by strongly criticizing corporations, the Trump regime, and institutions they said have remained silent or complicit in the conflict. Ahmed Shahrour, a member of Amazon Worker Intifada, criticized Amazon’s corporate responses to the war, and its complicity.

“Empty policies and hollow promises mean nothing when your profits are soaked in Palestinian blood,” Shahrour said.

People walking on the sidewalk and in storefronts frequently stopped to watch and record the protest on their phones as the demonstrators moved through busy downtown Seattle streets.

Seattle police maintained a very small presence during the demonstration, with one SPD vehicle following behind the march with emergency lights activated. And with two more Seattle police officers observing the end of the demonstration.

To support the efforts to end the ongoing genocide in Gaza from Seattle or anywhere in the United States, speakers urged a boycott to those companies that are complicit. They further explained that economic pressure as one of the many ways supporters can take action beyond protesting.

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