A crowd of anti-Israel protesters shut down the Philadelphia Pride Parade on Sunday.
Videos circulating online showed parade participants being stopped mid-way by anti-Israel protesters who blocked the route of the parade.
A group of drummers dressed in rainbow costumes were forced to march in place with their path blocked, and a woman at the front of the group was seen arguing with protesters blocking their way.
Protesters in the streets chanted into megaphones “Palestine will live forever” and “From the sea to the river,” imitating anti-Semitic slogans calling for the annihilation of Israel.
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Anti-Israel protesters block the route of the Philadelphia Pride Parade. (X/@HughE_Dillon)
Some in the anti-Israel crowd wore rainbow costumes, including fake rainbow mohawks, and one protester held up a sign that read, “Don’t be proud of genocide.”
Protest leaders continued to chant “Free Palestine” as Pride marchers continued to beat drums in situ.
The protest was led by the progressive group Queers for Palestine Philadelphia, which posted a statement on Instagram expressing “solidarity with all those resisting the genocide of colonialism around the world.”
“From Palestine to Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo to Aititi, we call on queer people of conscience to launch a global intifada against the colonialists and capitalists who seek to use our identity, beauty and talent to justify unimaginable violence. We reject all Pride celebrations unless they are rooted in the struggle to end genocide,” the statement posted on Sunday said. “We write this anti-Pride statement to honor the history of queer militant struggle against imperialism outlined in the STAR Manifesto: ‘We are part of a revolutionary army fighting the system. Power to the People.'”
As drummers from the Philadelphia Pride Parade marched through the area, anti-Israel protesters blocked their path. (X/@HughE_Dillon)
The statement also called for the death of the US and Israel, saying “Kill the pigs” and “Long live the Queer Intifada.”
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Another video shows anti-Israel protesters yelling at officers trying to move them away from a blockade of 11th and Locust streets, an intersection that leads to an area known as the city’s “gay bar district.”
Anti-Israel demonstrators held signs calling for an end to “genocide” at the Philadelphia Pride Parade. (Karen Closkey, via Storyful)
Pride marchers looked on as police intervened.
Another video showed the crowd chanting, “Now, now, now, now burn Israel.”
“There is no pride in genocide,” chanted anti-Israel agitators, many of whom also carried small Pride flags.
Anti-Israel crowds shut down the Philadelphia Pride Parade. (Karen Closkey, via Storyful)
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One anti-Israel demonstrator took to the street and read a statement into a microphone calling for people to “rally together to end the Zionist occupation and all the institutions and structures that enable and normalize genocide.”
