ACTIVISTS in the United States called on Thursday for a Global Shutdown for Palestine on November 9. 

Since Israel began its brutal bombardment of Gaza, activists have been mobilising to demand an immediate ceasefire, an end to all aid to Israel and a lifting of the siege on Gaza which many experts have described as a war crime.

Activists from organisations such as the Palestinian Youth Movement, National Students for Justice in Palestine, ANSWER Coalition, The People’s Forum, and International Peoples’ Assembly have called for direct action such as “marches, walk-outs, sit-ins and strikes directed at the politicians, businesses, and workplaces that fund, invest in and collaborate with Israeli genocide and occupation.”

Palestinian poet and writer Mohammed el-Kurd said: “We must not wait for history to pass us by. Everyone, regardless identity or sector, must heed the calls coming from the Palestinian streets and take action against genocide. 

Yara Shoufani, a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement, said: “We are calling for a total anti-normalisation of zionism.

“We will continue to fight until any and all material support for zionism is made unsustainable and ends.” 

Manolo De Los Santos, director of The People’s Forum, said: “Every year the US essentially gives Israel a $4 billion (£3.2bn) gift card to buy weapons from Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics, weapons that have been used to kill the 9,000 in Gaza since October 7.

“The cumulative tonnage of bombs dropped on Gaza has now exceeded the tonnage in Hiroshima. It is no surprise that these companies have seen their stocks skyrocket this past month; this is unacceptable and we will end genocide profiteering!” 

Hundreds of thousands are expected to converge on Washington DC on November 4 in what is set to be the largest mobilisation in the history of the US in support of Palestine.