Scores of people gathered on Boston Common Tuesday afternoon to protest Israel’s renewed bombing in Gaza and demand that the U.S. stop supplying weapons to the Israeli government.
Several protesters also held signs demanding the release of Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia University and lawful U.S. resident who was arrested by federal immigration agents and is in the process of being deported despite his status as a green card holder.
Hubert Murray, 78, stood outside the Park Street station entrance with a sign in each hand. The 78-year-old Cantabrigian said he was there to lend his voice against the “disruption of the bombing.”
An architect in Boston for many years, he said he’s spent part of his retirement involved in developing a kindergarten, community center and health clinic in the West Bank.
“It’s so dispiriting because the United States seems to be thoroughly behind Israel, and Europe isn’t doing anything much about it because they’re preoccupied with Ukraine,” he said.
The protest comes as the fragile two-month ceasefire in Gaza has seemingly collapsed. A wave of Israeli airstrikes killed more than 410 people Monday, adding to a death toll of over 48,000 in Gaza since the war began.
Under phase two of the initial ceasefire agreement, Hamas agreed to free all remaining Israeli hostages captured during the Oct. 7 attacks in return for a permanent ceasefire and full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly delayed discussions to move forward with the deal, agreed to a day before President Trump entered office. Israel has stopped the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza and continued military strikes.
Hamas has not responded militarily to last night’s strikes after weeks of calling to begin phase two of the ceasefire.
“Last night, we saw Israel resume a full force assault on Gaza,” said Joe Tache, an organizer with the group Party for Socialism and Liberation, at the Boston rally. “I mean, even in the last few weeks the so-called ceasefire has been tenuous because Israel has been blockading Gaza, preventing any aid from entering the area. So it’s essentially genocide by other means, right?”
Lea Kayali, with the Palestinian Youth Movement and Boston resident, said the bombings show that “a ceasefire without an arms embargo is really just more genocide.”
“We’re out here to demand an arms embargo, and we know that this is not a priority of the Trump administration, but we will continue to demand it,” she said.
Kayali said she’s the descendent of Nakba survivors. “Nakba” is the Arabic word for “catastrophe,” and is used to describe the mass displacement of Palestinians during the formation of Israel in 1948.
“When I see this happening to my people, I know that we have more fight in us,” she said. “It’s really on the rest of the world to join the right side of history.”
This story is part of a partnership between WBUR and the Boston University Department of Journalism.