[PHOENIX, ARIZ., Dec. 8, 2023] — The Arizona Muslim Alliance (AMA), the largest coalition of Muslim organizations in Arizona, is calling on all residents to unite in downtown Tempe Sunday evening in a large protest for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and to show support for the Gazan victims. The rally is one of many local efforts aiming to call attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis and suffering in the Gaza Strip.
What: All Out for Palestine rally and protest
When: Sunday, Dec.10, 2023 at 4 p.m.
Where: Start at the Tempe City Hall and march to University and Mill Avenue
“AMA’s main focus at the moment is on ceasefire and delivering humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza. We have to pressure our government to achieve this urgent and imperative need,” said AMA Chairman Ahmed Ewaisha. “The U.S. is the most powerful country to stop the genocide that the Israeli Defense Forces are committing against Gazan civilians.”
The Palestinian-American Community Center (PACC), a nonprofit cultural education organization in Phoenix, is leading this Sunday’s march with the support of the AMA and other Muslim groups. While this isn’t the first rally the PACC has led this year, it hopes it will have the highest turn-out as more Arizonans become aware of the alarming rate of civilian deaths. Already more than 6,000 Palestinian children and over 15,000 civilians in total have been killed since the start of the Israeli government’s bombardment and total blockade of Gaza. Gaza holds 2 million people in an area the size of Las Vegas and is referred to by human rights groups as the world’s largest open-air prison.
“From the Boston Tea Party to the protests of MLK and civil rights, protesting has been at the core of social change. Muslims all over the world have used their voice to disapprove of the brutal occupation of Palestine by the Israeli forces, as well as reassure everyone that anti-Zionism is not antisemitism,” said Hazim Nasaredden, Arizona chapter president of the Muslim American Society (MAS-AZ).
