The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial with the Washington Monument in the background on Jan. 21, 2019, in Washington. Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press, file As communities nationwide celebrate the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday this weekend with events ranging from parades to prayer services, some people are taking a cue from the slain civil rights icon’s history of protest to demonstrate against the war in Gaza and draw attention to the looming U.S. presidential election. The Monday holiday also marks 100 days since Oct. 7, when Hamas launched an attack in southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and resulted in about 240 taken hostage. Since then, more than 100 Israelis remain kidnapped and more than 23,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, as global health organizations have warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis there. Perhaps the biggest organized event of the weekend in the U.S. was held in the nation’s capital Saturday: the March on Washington for Gaza, co-hosted by the American Muslim Task Force on Palestine, comprising some of the largest Muslim organizations in the U.S., along with antiwar and racial justice groups. Thousands of people rallied near the White House to call for an end to Israeli military action in Gaza, with some holding signs questioning President Biden’s viability as a presidential candidate because of his staunch support for Israel in the war against Hamas. March organizers called on Biden to demand a permanent cease-fire and an end to the violence against civilians in Gaza and the West Bank. They also called for the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian political prisoners and an end to “American unconditional financial support for the Israeli military,” according to Edward Ahmed Mitchell, AMTP media coordinator and deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. A similar […]
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