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A rally, march, and vigil will be held on October 5th at the RI Statehouse, alongside worldwide demonstrations marking "One Year of Genocide, One Year of Resistance."
PROVIDENCE, RI – On Tuesday, Oct. 1, a coalition of community organizations, businesses, and students from across the state of Rhode Island held a press conference on the steps of the RI statehouse to call attention to Rhode Island's participation in an international week of action entitled "One Year of Genocide, One Year of Resistance."
The week will culminate with a rally on the RI Statehouse steps in Providence at 3 p.m. on Saturday, October 5. Organizers are hoping to see over 1,000 people attend the scheduled rally, march, and vigil for the over 40,000 people killed by the Israeli military over the past year.
Given there were seven State Police Officers and three Capitol Police officers on hand for Tuesday's quiet, sparsely attended press conference, it is quite likely there will be a heavy law enforcement presence at the Statehouse on Saturday.
Organizations involved in coordinating the rally include the Palestinian Feminist Collective, Falasteen Diaspora United, Doctors Against Genocide, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the Brown University and Rhode Island College chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace.
Options Magazine asked speakers at Tuesday's press conference about the connection between the U.S. government's spending of taxpayer money on weapons and military aid for Israel and the seemingly perpetual lack of preparation and lack of funding for situations in the United States like rising homelessness and failing infrastructure here in Rhode Island, or disaster relief in the wake of extreme climate events like Hurricane Helene.
Yosan, an organizer with the Rhode Island chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, said:
"It's evident that the U.S. and the American political establishment and ruling class prioritize their imperialist needs and sustaining U.S. empire on a global stage, rather than focusing on the needs of people here. That's why you have homelessness as a crisis. That's why you have people who are drowning in waters, who don't have the right infrastructure to face climate catastrophes...It's not even just a misallocation of funds, it's a deliberate disregarding and discardment of people in the United States for the sake of U.S. imperialism and for the sake of sustaining U.S. empire because at all costs, the U.S. only wants to protect its interests on a global stage, even if that means destroying the lives and the people right here in their own backyards."