Pro-Palestine protestors block main entrance to Providence Place Mall on Black Friday
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Over 100 people protested in support of Palestine in Providence Friday afternoon.
Protestors marched from the Rhode Island State House to Providence Place Mall calling for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.
Protestors said they chose Black Friday because they believe there should be “no business as usual until Palestine is free.”
One of the protestors said the demonstration is also against reckless consumption on a day where shopping is a popular activity.
“Black Friday is a day where America makes most of its money, and there will be no business as usual until Palestine is free. We will not continue to buy from these companies that are supporting Israel and are sending them money to kill our people, it just not going to happen anymore so we won’t support that,” she said.
That same protestor has family in Gaza and the West Bank.
“My family in Gaza has been trapped there for 16-17 years now so right now they have been fleeing for their lives from place to place for the past 48 days,” she explained further.
Meanwhile, a temporary four-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas started Friday morning. It’s meant to allow aid into Gaza and to allow the release of some hostages held by Hamas.
Protestors were also seen blocking off one of the mall’s entrances, in addition to traffic on one side of Francis Street.
“I get stuck in a traffic jam for about 45 minutes over there trying to come to a mall, do some Christmas shopping and it’s screaming ‘Free Palestine’ and that’s what I saw — a big gathering, seemed peaceful,” said a mall-goer.
“It’s their right to do it and it’s my right to disagree with them,” he continued.
Protestors tell ABC 6 News that they will continue to stand up for what they believe in.
“Our liberation and our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians,” a protestor said. “We are not terrorists, we are people. We are not numbers, we are humans.”
It has now been 48 days the since the start of war between Israel and Hamas, after Hamas fighters killed more than 1-thousand people in Israel on October 7, according to the government there.
According to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled government, more than 13,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7.
