Ceasefire demand rally held
Community organizations join forces.
On Sunday, May 18, a coalition of community organizations from across the Hudson Valley and beyond gathered in Middletown to mark the 77th anniversary of the Nakba and demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, along with a complete halt to U.S. arms transfers to Israel. Hundreds of marchers filled the streets to protest Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and the U.S. government’s central role in enabling it.
The event began at Thrall Park, with about 100 people marching through downtown Middletown, a passing by City Hall, where organizers spoke out against the mayor and city council’s refusal to issue a resolution demanding a ceasefire. Participants carried Palestinian flags, banners, and signs calling for an end to the mass killing in Gaza and justice for Palestinians everywhere.
Organizers included Rally Middletown, ALittleBeaconBlog, HeartBeads4Palestine, Hudson Valley for Free Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace Hudson Valley, Mid-Hudson Valley DSA, New Paltz Women in Black, SUNY BDS, Protect Orange County, Vets About Face, Wednesday Walk for Black Lives, CPUSA: Hudson Valley Club, Upper Delaware Actions, Framed Unrest, Party for Socialism and Liberation: Hudson Valley, and Middle East Crisis Response.
The event was co-sponsored by Palestinian-owned restaurant, Ziatün, in Beacon.
Rally Middleletown, a local grassroots group committed to racial, economic, and global justice, helped lead the organizing effort.
The Nakba—Arabic for “catastrophe”—refers to the 1948 forced expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians, and murder of about 15,000 more, by Zionist militias that would later become the Israeli army. But as today’s organizers emphasized, the Nakba is not just a historical event—it is ongoing.
What makes this moment urgent, they said, is not only the increased human rights violations and inhumane violence and starvation in Gaza, but also the rising threat of fascism in the U.S. as well. Under the newly installed Trump administration, dissent is being criminalized and immigrant, Muslim, Black, and Brown communities are under direct attack. These diverse Hudson Valley organizations recognize they are facing a common threat—and a shared struggle.
Amel, one of the locals who joined the march, holding a sign that said “Free Palestine, Save Gaza,” said “I’m here today for the freedom of Palestine, to allow food and water into Gaza, and stop this horrendous war on innocent people.”