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‘The dam has been broken’: Thousands expected in DC for Palestine march

Michael ArriaMarch 31, 2025

Thousands are expected to mobilize in Washington, DC this weekend to protest Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and the Trump administration’s crackdown on Palestine activists.

The “March on Washington to Stop the Genocide” will mark the largest pro-Palestine protest of the Trump era thus far. Sponsors include Palestinian Youth Movement, The People’s Forum, ANSWER Coalition, American Muslims for Palestine, U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations, Jewish Voice for Peace, U.S. Palestinian Community Network, U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Palestinian Feminist Collective, AROC Action, Democratic Socialists of America, and Al-Awda.

It’s endorsed by over 200 organizations across the United States, including Mondoweiss.

“We are bringing thousands of people to D.C. who represent the majority opinion in the United States, which wants to see an end to the ongoing genocide in Gaza and an end to the Trump administration’s attempts to revoke our civil liberties,” said the Palestinian Youth Movement’s Taher Dahleh in a statement. “We are not intimidated by this administration’s repression, we are outraged and we know people are ready to take to the streets.”

Thousands are also expected to participate in an unrelated series of nationwide anti-Trump demonstrations targeting the Trump agenda, although the organizers have left Palestine off the list of causes the protests are addressing.

Crackdown on Palestine movement, Israel attacks resume

In recent weeks U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has targeted a number of students over their support for Palestine. Some have fled the United States to avoid arrest, while others are currently jailed in detention facilities.

The State Department has revealed that they are moving to deport activists through a provision from the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act. “An alien whose presence or activities in the United States the Secretary of State has reasonable ground to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States is deportable,” reads the provision.

Last week Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that he had already signed about 300 letters to revoke visas from students and other individuals who have worked to end the genocide.

“I don’t know actually if it’s primarily student visas,” said Rubio. “It’s a combination of visas. They’re visitors to the country. If they’re taking activities that are counter to our foreign, to our national interest, to our foreign policy, we’ll revoke the visa.”

The wave of detentions was kicked off on March 8, when former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by ICE agents outside his home in New York and sent to an immigration facility in Louisiana. This week a federal judge ruled that Khalil’s case will proceed in New Jersey, despite the Trump administration’s attempts to have it moved to Louisiana.

In a video statement shared on social media, Khalil’s wife Dr. Noor Abdalla, called on people to attend the April 5 rally.

“This crackdown is an attempt to distract from the genocide in Gaza which has resumed in full force,” said Abdalla. “The time to show up is now.”

“We need to show up in large numbers and make it known that the people will never consent,” she continued.

While supporters of Palestine face suppression in the United States, Israel has resumed its deadly attacks on Gaza, after two months of truce in the region. The latest military offensive has killed hundreds of Palestinians, including 200 children over the course of just a few days.

Despite their early work helping to negotiate a temporary ceasefire, the Trump administration has given no indication that they will attempt to stop the violence.

When asked by a reporter about the Israeli army reportedly killing 15 paramedics one by one, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce declaredthat, “Every single thing that is happening in Gaza is happening because of Hamas – every single dynamic.”

Organizers stress need for protest

“The April 5 demonstration comes at a crucial moment,” ANSWER Coalition media coordinator Walter Smolarek told Mondoweiss. “In Gaza, Israel has resumed the genocide with even more brutal violence than before and has imposed a total siege on the entire population in an effort to force Palestinians out of Gaza. And here in the United States, Trump is unleashing a historic attack on First Amendment rights in an attempt to criminalize not only solidarity with Palestine, but any opposition to his agenda.”

“We’re joining with a wide range of organizations to put together this demonstration because this is the decisive time to show Trump that we are not afraid, and that we will continue to raise our voices for a free Palestine,” he continued.

“While most Americans are starting to wake up to the terrifying power that our government has over us, we in the Palestine movement and the Palestinian and Muslim communities have been at the end of that barrel for decades,” said American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) Director of Outreach & Grassroots Organizing. “We know full well what it’s like to be surveilled, constantly harassed by airport security, and denied our citizenship and rights.”

“None of these measures or tactics will stop us from being unequivocally anti-zionist. There is no repressive policy in the world that will stop the tide that’s enveloping the world today,” he added. “The dam has been broken, and the whole world sees the Zionist project for what it is: a project of genocide and ethnic cleansing.”