Pro-Palestine protest in Pittsburgh focuses on Rafah, Israeli actions

Chants of “free, free Palestine,” “Come November, we’ll remember” and “Hands off the Middle East” rang out through Downtown Pittsburgh streets as about 200 pro-Palestinian protesters marched from Market Square to the City-County Building and back Tuesday evening.

Billed as a “Hands off Rafah” emergency rally by the same group involved in the protests in Schenley Park and on University of Pittsburgh property last month, a small gathering of about 40 people shortly before 5 p.m. continued to grow.

Several members unrolled a sign about three parking spaces long that read, “Stop the Genocide. Hands off Rafah. Ceasefire now.”

Israel seized Gaza’s vital Rafah border crossing Tuesday.

Protesters said that action is part of a larger invasion of what was believed to be a safe zone.

And the chanting has begun at Market Square rally/pro Palestine protest #Pittsburgh pic.twitter.com/B1n0mwcC6b

— Mike D. (@MikeJdiVittorio) May 7, 2024

Shouts of “shame” were made as speakers mentioned Israel’s continued attacks in Gaza, the U.S. sending money and weapons to the country at war with Hamas, local leaders such as U.S. Sen. John Fetterman voicing support for Israel and how other protests on college campuses were broken up by law enforcement agencies.

There was no mention of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

Pittsburgh police assisted with traffic control as the protest moved from Market Square onto Liberty Avenue and then to Grant Street before stopping at the City-County Building for more chants and speeches.

Bystanders stood on the sidewalks taking pictures and filming the march. A handful of onlookers every few blocks chanted along and raised fists in solidarity while most just stared at their phones, which were pointed at the protesters.

Pittsburgh police redirected traffic about a block ahead of the marchers as they made their way along city streets.

A Palestinian flag and scarf were draped over the statue of former Pittsburgh Mayor Richard Caliguiri.

A Fetterman cardboard cutout was made into a devilish marionette. One of the louder chants of the night featured the Democrat senator’s name and an expletive directed toward him.

Many of the protesters declined to talk with TribLive.

One of the speakers, Ahmed, did speak with reporters. He declined to give his last name out of safety for his family.

He said his family members in Gaza had to evacuate. He prays for a ceasefire, and that every day there is none is another day people may be killed.

Ahmed talked about the diversity of the Pittsburgh crowds and the mix of people from Jewish and Muslim backgrounds as well as others.

He said he hopes the protests continue to remain peaceful and get the people’s points across that violence needs to stop.

“We should always stay peaceful,” he said. “We should always stay respectful. We’ve been coming out to rallies and we’ve been speaking up for the Palestinians.”

Pittsburgh Public Safety officials said there were no serious issues with the protest and no arrests were made.

Police had Grant Street from the Boulevard of the Allies to Fifth Avenue blocked off for a while.

The road was reopened as some of the protesters began to make their way back to Market Square.

However, a few dozen had decided to sit and stay in the street outside the City-County Building, forcing a reclosure of the block and police to reroute a tow truck that had already made its way nearly halfway down the road.

The city’s horse-mounted units and several bicycle officers also assisted.

Remaining protesters eventually marched down Forbes Avenue and back to Market Square.

All roads were reopened around 7:40 p.m.