INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE – 21 September 2024, SEATTLE, WA – SEWARD PARK AMPHITHEATER:

By midday, on Saturday, 21 September, the words PALESTINE WILL LIVE FOREVER were displayed on either side of the stage at the Seward Park Amphitheater. The two sensational banners might have been twenty feet high. Each had been placed precisely inside sign-posts the size of tree-trunks. Their bright color, with their distinct artistry, marked the day as official good tidings.

Thousands of people were in attendance. Activities featured history-making speakers for peace, poetry, and heart-pounding music. All were there so as to shed light on vast differences of opinion between two opposing parties. 

There has been an intense movement in the Pacific Northwest to end bloodshed happening at the moment in Gaza and the West Bank. Meanwhile, popular press outlets espouse the difficulty dealing with the people of Palestine.

Regardless of which side of the argument you can sympathize with, horrific displays of power between these two parties in conflict have filled international social awareness across all media channels—perhaps for the first time in world history people are viewing true imagery due to internet advances across the globe.

On 7 October, of 2023, something like 1200 Israeli participants inside the Nova Music Festival were brutally tortured and killed or taken into custody by Palestinian militant forces under the banner of Hamas. The festival was located close to the Gaza border. So, in retaliation, since 7 October, 2023, 11,355 children have been butchered by Israel military forces.

With so much anger and fighting potential on either side, it’s difficult to do anything more than to demand peace now.

The intensity of emotion is being put to American audiences in a larger scale by the ongoing efforts of Seattle-born rap artist and megastar Macklemore. Macklemore is making the Palestinian cause to end human rights abuse against citizens of Palestine his own mission. His work began after hearing about mounting tension that turned into full-scale bloodshed following the events  of 7 October, 2024.

On Saturday, I arrived to the PALESTINE WILL LIVE FOREVER event to find informative booths promoting the cause. I watched as donations were made to peace-minded organizations, such as “Jewish Voice For Peace Seattle” as well as the “Palestinian Feminist Movement”. It was good to see such peaceful solidarity everywhere. The vibe of the day was friendly and everything was maintained low-key.

The hope of the day was to peacefully raise awareness about what is clearly viewed as genocide of the people of Palestine through musical guests as well as internationally respected guest speakers. The selling of peace-inspired t-shirts also supported the day’s mission.

I found myself stuck to the booth “Until We’re All Free”. The T-Shirts on display there utterly took me away, mentally, to another place for a minute. The designs were created by the project’s founder Lauren Holloway (@until.were.all.free) as well as American-based Palestinian artists Natali Lukata (@sweetmalson) and Khaled Jarrar (@khaledjarrar).

That very day, Holloway debuted the t-shirt project she had been working on for several months.

“As an artist, I have always been really passionate about the idea that there is no revolutionary change that happens in the world without art,” said Holloway.

When Holloway heard about the large-scale death of thousands and thousands of civilians in Gaza, she felt powerless to stop the genocide so did something achievable: raise money for displaced Palestinians from her home in Seattle, Washington. She wanted to give other artists a way to incorporate their designs into decorative t-shirts. So, she worked with Palestinian-born artists to help with design work. With the end result of immaculate handmade t-shirts on display that support peace across all of Palestine, Holloways sees herself contributing to positive change.

Holloway printed all of the t-shirts. She has been screen-printing for some years. She collaborated with Seattle-based arts movement Love City Love to host screen-printing workshops where others were able to learn, too. She even organized some work parties to get enough shirts printed before the day of the event. The proceeds from her t-shirt sales were going directly to support the charitable event.

Holloway is of Jewish decent on her mother’s side. She has been aware of the situation between the State of Israel and the people of Palestine since her early twenties. Now in her forties, Holloway feels her ancestors, as well as her conscience urge, her to take action today.

“I also believe art is very therapeutic. So, when we come together and we make art, it’s medicine. It’s something,” Holloway told me.

Apparently, there are many reasons we, as a nation, have to scream about occupation inside Palestine territories. It’s a massive problem been ongoing since the mid-1960’s. With bloodshed mounting daily, it’s high-time music takes over for those who cannot get along with each other very well.  

Unfortunately, the history of the Middle East includes conflicts for many decades. Amin is the Palestinian-born father of one of the day’s organizers. He said the root problem is hundreds of years of colonization throughout the area by the English army, and forces from France. These other countries succeeded in making their own claims throughout the region. That happened a long time before Russia or the United States grew into their planetary super-power status.

After it was officially put together, in 1945, the United Nations stepped in to bring peace to the Levant. Unfortunately, the English backing of the United Nations is its dominant strangulating trait.

The recent forceful capture of Palestine’s peoples happened sometime around 1948. The entire area had been known to foreigners as Palestine, until then. From an interlude felt throughout the UN community, the Nation of Israel became a fact. This all happened under the leadership of Norway’s Trygve Lie. It was not an American deal, ever.

With the publicly-made full support at the United Nations, Palestine’s people were relocated to specific, chosen areas. They were the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank. Then, in the 1960’s, developers started to rip and run with these last remaining Palestinian lands. That’s when murder of innocent people at the hands of the Israel forces became sort of an okay thing, to some people.

And, so, began the unchecked use through the United Nations to strangle or control America’s leadership. It was through the strange friendships surrounding the United Nations that America has been suddenly shoved into the massive Levant ordeal. That’s exactly where and how America tripped into the mess when the United States should have side-stepped totally the inclusion. And, the only way to dance away from supporting the UN’s massive mistake is through the election polls.

Without question, everyone participating in the PALESTINE WILL LIVE FOREVER event felt the need to bring lasting peace throughout all Palestine areas in the Middle East.

Thankfully, residents of the Pacific Northwest have been champions for peace for some time. With distribution of information in many ways—such as through the sales of Lauren Holloway’s “Until We’re All Free” T-Shirts—peace can become popular in the land.