I want to applaud a local advocacy group Plymouth for Palestine and the number of Plymouth residents who consistently stand out in protest in downtown Plymouth on Saturdays, rain or shine, snow or 100-degree temperatures. Whether it’s one person or 20 people, they are there, advocating for a ceasefire and an end to US-financed and supplied weapons to Israel. Individuals of a variety of backgrounds, ages, religions, ethnic and racial identities stand together against what they, along with many internationally recognized humanitarian groups (including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Doctors Without Borders), understand to be a genocide of the Palestinian people. They started standing out on March 2, 2024, and have continued every Saturday since.
Despite hateful and sometimes violent language shouted from car windows or, on some days, in the faces of those standing out, the overwhelming response from other residents is one of support and encouragement. And I’ve noticed that regardless of the support they receive on any given day, they are back at it the following Saturday.
I appreciate the perseverance of this group – it takes a certain kind of courage to show up every week and stand up for the people one believes to be the most vulnerable and experiencing the most harm, especially when that harm is being done by one’s government, with one’s tax dollars. We have also been witnessing an ongoing demonization of those advocating for the lives of Palestinians, and I respect our local neighbors’ commitment in the face of propaganda that aims to silence and discredit their advocacy, as well as turn others against their cause. Not to mention recent abductions of innocent, legal residents voicing solidarity with Palestine, and the looming threat that US citizens may be next. I hope we can all come together at this point and agree that being anti-genocide is not anti-Semitic, nor is Palestinian freedom and self-determination.
I hope to have the opportunity to show support and join my neighbors on upcoming Saturdays at noon, as I have done previously, but not to the extent of the group at large. In light of current events. I would like to say I completely support their right to free speech, which includes their right to protest and criticize the government. I hope those rights will always be respected and protected here in Plymouth.
– David Ash