No pigs in Bay Ridge!
The Bronx Antiwar Coalition condemns the police presence and violence against protesters on Nakba Day in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn organized by Within Our Lifetime. The immense violence and brutality the pigs showcased that day was intended to terrorize protestors in their rightful assembly to denounce the US/EU/israel for carrying out 76-years of genocide against the Palestinian people.
The pigs unleashed a vicious attack on the people – grabbing us at random, tackling us to the ground, punching us in the face continuously, pinning their knees on our neck, and ripping off our hijabs and keffiyehs. We know that the israeli occupational forces trains the new york pig department to use these violent tactics to oppress, subjugate, and kill our people here in the same way they are used to oppress, subjugate, and kill our people in Palestine. This is why we chant: nypd, kkk, iof, they’re all the same.
This pig violence is a command that comes from the top: from the white house and the nyc mayor’s office. Let this moment remind us that the pigs are agents of the state. Their role is to protect the interests of the ruling class. The ruling class is invested in the genocidal project known as “israel” and therefore they sick their pigs onto those expressing solidarity with Palestinians. This pig response is but one side of the fascist face of the US which violates the people’s right to assemble and protest. washington calls solidarity with Palestine and Palestinian resistance “antisemitic.” Not only would the growing anti-zionist Jewish masses disagree, but this is a discursive tactic to distract from the genocide unfolding before our eyes these past 7 months and 76 years.
We must also note the Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism fueling this particular pig aggression in Bay Ridge. Bay Ridge, being the home of a predominantly Muslim and Palestinian community, was met with a hyper militarized presence of pigs in riot gear from the very start of the gathering.
Lastly, while this brutalization happened in broad daylight and much of it was captured on video, we do not forget the pig violence that happens behind the jail and prison walls here in the US and in Occupied Palestine. We will not forget the abuse and torture our prisoners are subjected to by the occupation forces. We know these occupations cannot exist without their pig agents upholding them through brute force and their capacity for inhumanity. To that we say: Free our prisoners! Free them all!
Members of the Bronx Antiwar Coalition were among those brutalized by the pigs on Nakba Day in Bay Ridge. This violence only intensifies our commitment to defend Palestine and to rid the world of US imperialism and the state agents forcing its existence. We will continue to rally against the occupation and genocide in Palestine and defend Gaza at whatever cost and by any means necessary.
