Hillel Cohen 's Speech at Palestinian Rally in NYC, Oct 13.

The following is a speech delivered by Hillel Cohen at the October 13, 2000, mass rally in New York City in support of the Palestinian people. The demonstration was over 10,000 strong and mainly organized from the Arab-American community. Mosques from the New York/New Jersey area mobilized to attend. Cohen's speech was met with a tremendous ovation.  

Right-wing and racist propaganda wants to portray the Israeli- Palestinian struggle as a "religious war." The same propaganda  demonizes those who are fighting against U.S.-backed Israeli  aggression as "anti-Semitic." Cohen, who is a member of Workers  World Party, puts the Palestinian struggle in a more accurate context as a struggle against imperialism, racism and colonialism.

EXCERPTED FROM REMARKS OF HILLEL COHEN FROM RALLY  ON OCT. 13, 2000:

Brothers and sisters, I speak to you today as a member of healthcare workers' union 1199/SEIU, an organizer for the International Action Center and a Jewish-American in solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people for self-determination.

Working people join unions in order to fight for a better life for their families. This includes the right to a decent place to live, to healthcare, to education and to be treated with dignity and justice. Isn't this what the Palestinian people are in the streets fighting for? It is the same struggle which is why every union and every union member should be here, standing side by side our Palestinian brothers and sisters. The Union movement is all about solidarity and right now the Palestinian people need and deserve the solidarity of working people here and the union movement in particular. I also urge all of you who are in unions to appeal to your union for solidarity. And, if you are not in a union, to join one and teach the union movement about the Palestinian struggle.

The International Action Center is trying to reach out to the people of this country to explain that Ariel Sharon is a killer. Barak is a killer. But people have to know that Sharon and Barak are not acting by themselves. They are hired killers. They are bought and paid for by the banks, the oil companies and the big businesses in the United States that stand to profit from the blood of the Palestinian people.  

The guns have been paid for by the Pentagon. The bullets are paid for by the Pentagon. The tear gas, the helicopters and the rockets, all paid for by the Pentagon. The same bankers and big business interests that pay to kill Palestinian youth are the ones who pay the cops here to attack workers fighting for justice and to terrorize peoples of color. The millions and billions of dollars being used to pay for these crimes should be used instead for jobs, housing, education and healthcare. Stop all U.S. arms to Israel!

There are many parallels between the struggle in Palestine and the  struggle here. New York cops killed Amadou Diallo in front of his  home. They shot Patrick Dorismond for refusing drugs. They tortured  Abner Louima for daring to speak out against an unjust police attack. The police were carrying out acts of racist violence. This is the way the Zionist police and military treat Palestinian youth. We have to fight to stop the police murders here and in Palestine.

Whose Right to Return

I was born in New York City. My parents were born here and my  grandparents came here from Eastern Europe. Because I am Jewish, I  can go and buy an airline ticket to Jerusalem and claim first-class citizenship rights. But my Palestinian friends who were born in  Jerusalem or whose parents and grandparents were born in Jerusalem,  don't have that right! The Zionists say that I as a Jewish-American have the right to return. I don't want that right! That right belongs to the Palestinian people.  

Long live the just struggle of the Palestinian people for their homeland!

Long live Palestine!

PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE