At around 6:40 p.m. on May 15, Pro-Palestine Protesters started a march down Fulton Street in opposition against the actions of Israel against Palestinians. This eventually led to the arrest of four protesters after the group of around 70 people blocked traffic around Downtown Grand Rapids.
What started as a rather small protest led by Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids on the corner of Fulton Street and Division Avenue, quickly turned into a march into the streets of Grand Rapids after a rapid growth of protesters. The goal of this protest was to show their support for Palestine and bring awareness to the actions of Israel in the conflict between nations.
“In summary, our two main demands are calling for an end to U.S. aid to Israel and calling to free Palestine,” said Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids organizer Danny Celaya.
This protest took place on the 76th anniversary of Nakba Day, which marked the beginning of the Arab-Israeli war in 1948 and the displacement and expulsion of Palestinians. Protesters stated there are a number of parallels between today’s war in Gaza and how Palestinians were treated during the 20th Century.
Celaya spoke on the most recent conflict in the city of Rafah and criticized Rep. Hillary Scholten, D-Grand Rapids, for supporting U.S. aid to Israel.
“As we are seeing the increase of bombardment in Rafah, which right now is a tense city with over 1 million people there, we are here calling to an end to the genocide,” said Celaya “Especially considering how many of our elected officials, like Hilary Scholton, how willing they have been to ignore the cause of their constituents to continue to fund this amount of violence…”
According to a press release by her office on April 22, Scholten voted “to pass a legislative package that will deliver critical assistance to Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel, and provide humanitarian aid to innocent civilians in Gaza.”
After protesters marched around the downtown area and disrupted traffic, around 35 Grand Rapids police trailed behind the group stating that they could be subjects of arrest if they didn’t comply with the law. Protestors moved over to the sidewalk while going down Monroe Avenue but marched down the middle of Monroe Center Street.
After Protesters made it back to Monument Park on the corner of Fulton Street and Division Avenue, Police detained four individuals after they were blocking roads according to GRPD Police Chief Eric Winstrom.
“This group has had probably 20 marches since Oct. 6 when Israel was invaded by a group of terrorists,” said Winstrom when referencing when the Palestinian Sunni Islamist group Hamas killed around 1,200 Israeli citizens on Oct. 7. “They (protesters) have not had a permit at any point in time. They continually block streets, creating traffic hazards for individuals. We have been extremely tolerant in accommodating them in their activities, even though they have been illegal…”
Emerson Wolfe, an organizer for Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids who led the march, stated that she and the rest of her team were going to find a way to release those arrested and that they weren’t expecting that today’s protest would turn out as it did.
“I wasn’t expecting this to happen but that doesn’t mean that it was out of the realm of possibilities,” said Wolfe. “Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids is really proud of the fact that we put on family-friendly events. We had around 100 people out here today and every time we get around 100 people we march in the streets because it’s the safest option to keep people together and to prevent clogging the sidewalks. We never had a problem with GRPD before, but I guess I should’ve anticipated this happening because the state is ramping up its efforts to repress student movements, community movements and everyone who supports Palestine because it goes against our U.S. imperialist messaging.”
