Protestors gathered outside Rep. Debbie Dingell’s Ann Arbor office on Monday, Oct. 23 to demand the legislator sign onto a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Palestine.
The rally, calling to “End the Gaza Genocide” and “Stop U.S. Military Aid,” was organized by local community members and endorsed by multiple organizations, drawing nearly 200 people.
Participating organizations included Palestinian Youth Movement, Jewish Voice for Peace, and the Graduate Employee Organization and Students Allied for Freedom and Equality at the University of Michigan.
Noisemakers and signs were passed out, some featuring phrases like “Palestine will be free” and “Stop the Genocide,” and others with images of Palestinians killed in recent years.
Calls to end United States aid was one of the grievances speakers of the ceasefire rally spoke about.
The demonstration began with a collection of call-and-response chants, many addressed directly to Congresswoman Dingell, from “Hey Dingell, don’t you know/ the siege of Gaza has to go,” to “Hey Dingell, what do you say/ cease-fire or genocide.”
Members of the crowd were fierce in their chanting as dozens of photographers weaved their way through. Speeches were given by representatives of the Palestinian Youth Movement, Jewish Voice for Peace, the Yemeni Liberation Movement, and the Graduate Employee Organization, as well as concerned constituents of Dingell.
Demonstrators made calls for change directly to Rep. Debbie Dingell including signing the Ceasefire Now Resolution proposed by Rep. Cori Bush.
After the speaking portion of the event, demonstrators made their way to Dingell’s office door. It was locked, and when members of the crowd tried calling her office, the phone had been turned off.
Letters of demands were taped to the outside of the office. The first demand called for Dingell to sign a resolution introduced by Rep. Cori Bush urging the Biden Administration to call for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Israel and Palestine and send humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The letter also pressured Dingell to “Support an immediate end to U.S. military aid to Israeli war crimes,” and for her to denounce Israel’s “genocidal bombardment” of the Gaza Strip.
Chanting continued outside of the office, and eventually the protestors made their way up Hogback Road toward the corner of Washtenaw Ave. Police cars lined the street and kept traffic at a halt.
Many protests and solidarity events have been planned in response to the most recent conflict in Israel and Palestine.
