Marin County Activists Call on Rep Huffman to Support HR 786
By Phil Pasquini
San Rafael: Marin County residents gathered on January 27 in downtown San Rafael to demand that their congressional representative, Jared Huffman (D-CA), support HR 786 calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The turnout of several hundred protesters was one of the largest the small county has seen in some time.
The rally and march were organized by the Marin for Palestine, Democratic Socialists of America (Marin DSA) around their demands for a “Ceasefire and Palestinian Liberation! No more genocide & no more apartheid!”
Addressing the crowd at the rally was activist, journalist, and Executive Director of the Institute of Public Accuracy, Norman Solomon who went on to reflect that “Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day and we say Never again for anyone. Not for Jews, not for Palestinians, not for anyone. Not in our name, not with our tax dollars, not with our silence. We will not tolerate the extermination of the Palestinian people.”
“Upwards of fifty percent of the people in this country support an immediate ceasefire, but not Congressman Huffman.” He also noted that 67 members of Congress sent a letter to the White House. The letter to President Biden stated, “There must be no expulsion of Palestinian people from Gaza.”
On November 19 of last year, Huffman stated on X his conditional position on Gaza by saying, “ Very good news. I urge Pres Biden to keep pressing for a responsible, durable, permanent ceasefire under which Hamas releases all hostages, disarms & relinquishes control of Gaza. Then we begin urgent work to rebuild Gaza and demand a two-state solution. ”
In closing, the group promised to continue actions as long as it takes until a permanent ceasefire is in place.
(Phil Pasquini is a freelance journalist and photographer. His reports and photographs appear in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and Nuze.ink. He is the author of Domes, Arches and Minarets: A History of Islamic-Inspired Buildings in America.)
