A crowd of anti-Israel protesters brought the Philadelphia Pride Parade to a halt on Sunday.
A video that circulated online showed parade participants being stopped in their tracks by a group of anti-Israel demonstrators who blocked the parade route.
A group of drummers clad in rainbow attire were forced to march in place while their route remained obstructed. A woman at the front of the group could be seen arguing with the protesters who stood in their way.
The protesters, standing in the street, shouted through a megaphone, “Palestine will live forever,” and, “From the sea, to the river,” a version of the antisemitic chant calling for the annihilation of Israel.
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Anti-Israel protesters block the Philadelphia Pride Parade route. (X/@HughE_Dillon)
Some of the anti-Israel crowd also donned rainbow attire, including a fake rainbow mohawk, and one protester held up a sign reading, “No pride in genocide.”
“Free Palestine,” the protest leaders continued to chant, as the Pride parade participants continued drumming in place.
The protest was led by the progressive group, Queers 4 Palestine Philly, which posted a statement on Instagram extending “our solidarity to all those resisting colonial genocide around the world.”
“From Palestine to Sudan to the DRC to Ayiti, we call on queer people of conscience to ignite a global intifada against colonizers and capitalists who seek to use our identities, our beauty, our brilliance as justification for unimaginable violence. We reject all celebrations of pride if they are not grounded in the struggle to end genocide,” the statement posted Sunday said. “We write this anti-pride statement as an honoring of the history of queer militant struggle against imperialism, outlined in the STAR Manifesto: ‘we are; a part of the REVOLUTIONARIES armies fighting against the system. POWER TO THE PEOPLE’”
Philadelphia Pride Parade drummers marched in place while anti-Israel protesters blocked their path. (X/@HughE_Dillon)
The statement also called for death to America and to Israel, and said, “QUEER AS IN OFF THE PIGS” and “LONG LIVE THE QUEER INTIFADA.”
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Another video showed the anti-Israel demonstrators shouting as officers attempted to direct them away from blocking 11th and Locust Street, the intersection leading into an area known as the city’s “Gayborhood.”
Anti-Israel demonstrators displayed a sign calling for the end of “genocide” at the Philadelphia Pride Parade. (Karen Closkey via Storyful)
Pride marchers looked on as police intervened.
The crowd also shouted, “Now, Now, Now, Now, Burn Israel to the ground,” another video showed.
“No pride in genocide,” the anti-Israel agitators, many of whom also had small Pride flags, chanted.
An anti-Israel crowd brought the Philadelphia Pride Parade to a halt. (Karen Closkey via Storyful)
One anti-Israel demonstrator stood in the street reading a statement through a microphone calling to “mobilize to bring about the end to the Zionist occupations and to all systems and entities which enable and normalize genocide.”
