TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. (WFLA) -- Two weeks after the deadly Hamas terror attacks, followed by Israel’s declaration of war, hundreds of Palestinian supporters gathered Saturday afternoon for a demonstration on Fowler Avenue.
“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” the protesters chanted.
The protesters said the United States government should stop sending aid to Israel.
"End the money, end the weapons to Israel,” said Ali Abdel-Qader from Tampa Bay’s Party for Socialism and Liberation.
The protesters are angered by the rising death toll in Gaza as Israel warns residents there of a potential ground invasion.
“Israel is not going to win this war against the Palestinian people,” Abdel-Qader said. “The Palestinian people are not going to give up the resistance.”
This week Israel's top diplomat in Florida, Maor Elbaz-Starinsky, praised President Biden’s response to Israel’s war against the Hamas terrorist organization.
“The Palestinians will be the first ones to be liberated once Hamas is eradicated because they oppress them on a daily basis, not us,” said Elbaz-Starinsky, the Consul General of Israel in Miami.
Elbaz-Starinsky said the pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the U.S. do not align with American values.
“In a country that promotes human rights and liberty and freedom and cherish of life, they identify with the cruelest murderers on earth, with monsters,” Elbaz-Starinsky said. “Not with bad human beings, not with evil human beings, with monsters.”
At this latest show of support for the Palestinians in the Tampa area, Abdel-Qader said he feels energized.
“We don’t want to see anyone die,” he said, “but we ultimately say the Palestinian resistance is on the right side of history.
Unlike two weeks ago in Temple Terrace, there were no clashes or counter pro-Israel demonstrations.
President Biden on Saturday confirmed humanitarian aid had arrived in Gaza as Israel continues its retaliatory strikes.