PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) – Dozens of people gathered in Providence Saturday afternoon to observe what they are calling the first annual “Rhode Island Palestine Day.”
The event included vendors, food, dancing and music with the aim of educating people about Palestinian culture in the wake of the conflict in Gaza.
“We have had a whole year of constant protests, rallies, vigils, die-ins and everything you can imagine for Palestine,” said Reem Saie-Awad, one of the event organizers involved with the organization Falasteen Diaspora Union. told 12 News.
Several organizations helped make the event possible, including Jewish Voice for Peace Rhode Island (JVPRI).
“As a Jewish Rhode Islander, as a member of Jewish Voice for Peace, it has been very important for me to express vocal support in solidarity with Palestine, with the Palestinians,” said JVPRI member Julian Drix.
Organizers said all donations they raised and money made by vendors will go to the Middle East Children’s Alliance, an organization that provides humanitarian aid.
In a statement about the event, the RI Coalition for Israel said it was “a sad day for people in RI who identify as ‘Palestinians’.”
“A genuine effort to uplift this community would certainly not rely on fictional and anti-Semitic claims of ‘genocide’ to justify itself,” the statement added. “Today’s event, orchestrated by awakened social justice warriors, only demonstrated the depth of Jew-hatred that unfortunately exists among certain elements in our state.”
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