Roughly 20 people protested the Iran war, Israel’s war on Gaza and the actions of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on the corner of 5th and Warren streets Saturday morning.
Signs taped to a fence at the corner of 5th Street and Warren Street in Hudson during a pro-Palestine, anti-ICE and anti Iran war protest Saturday morning.
Roughly 20 people protested the Iran war, Israel’s war on Gaza and the actions of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on the corner of 5th and Warren streets Saturday morning.
HUDSON— About 20 people protested the war in Iran, Israel’s war on Gaza and the actions of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on the corner of 5th and Warren streets on Saturday morning.
The protest, the latest in a series of protests organized by Columbia County for Palestine, drew supportive horn honking of approval and a few heckles from passing drivers. Despite the fact other issues were mentioned, the event was spurred by the joint American-Israeli bombing of Iran that began Feb 28.
Since that date, the American and Israeli armies have hit a host of military and civilian targets in Iran, where the death toll stands at more than 1,200 as of Monday morning. Iran has struck back across the Middle East, targeting American assets, oil facilities and civilian infrastructure in Gulf Arab countries.
As of Monday morning, seven American service members have died in the conflict.
The Hudson protest ran from 11 a.m. to noon, with protesters holding homemade signs and chanting slogans such as “free free Palestine” and “when Palestine is under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back.”
Member of Columbia County For Palestine Megan Brien holds her sign during a pro Palestine, anti-ICE and anti Iran war protest in Hudson Saturday.
Spenser Walsh
Susan Davies, a Chatham resident who has protested with the group before, said a variety of factors drove her to protest.
“Where to start? Well, I guess, most immediately, that the U.S. is illegally attacking Iran, killing innocent people, over 1,000 people killed in Iran, including that terrible, horrible attack on the girls' school,” Davies said, referencing an air strike on a school in Minab, Iran, that killed over 165 people.
Evidence mounted indicating that the U.S. was behind the strike on the girls' school in Iran on the first day of the war, but President Donald Trump suggested Iran was to blame.
“That's the current horrifying incentive," Davies added. "But, of course, just the occupation and genocide that's going on in Palestine has become a focus for me two and a half years, three years, so, yeah, just a sense of the injustice and the fact that our tax dollars are paying for these terrible things,” Davies said.
Columbia County For Palestine organized the event as a forum for people to express their anger about multiple policies by Trump’s administration, Hudson resident Megan Brien, 28, a member of the group said.
Signs taped to a fence at the corner of 5th Street and Warren Street in Hudson during a pro-Palestine, anti-ICE and anti Iran war protest Saturday morning.
Spenser Walsh
"We've had them (rallies) before, and this one in particular is in response to the bombings in Iran,” Brien said. "It's also kind of meant to just be also inclusive of other things, so the genocide in Gaza and the (immigration and customs enforcement) moment we're having. We had one a few weeks ago that also had to do with Venezuela, the kidnapping of the president (Nicolas Maduro). So yeah, this is our most recent response to the news”
While they may seem separate, the conduct of immigration agents at home is linked to the conduct of the American and Israeli militaries abroad, Claverack resident and a founding member of the group Jim McCabe said.
“It is all interconnected,” McCabe said. “We draw the comparison that it's really about U.S. militarism and state sponsored violence, whether it's DHS [U.S. Department of Homeland Security] and ICE cracking down on people here, or sending bombs, you know, U.S. imperialism overseas. We think they are all connected.”
While many of the protestors had attended Columbia County For Palestine events before, Saturday’s event did bring a few newcomers, including New York University associate arts professor Kathy Engel, 70, who was visiting the area with her two daughters for her birthday and sought out the event.
“We have a vigil at home where we live that we started in mid-October 2023,” Engel said. “It's really beautiful to join communities when you're traveling. We know that people stop by our vigil at different times. And it's uplifting. It's heartwarming, because we may be five, we may be 20, we may be 200, we may be 1,000s, and we know we are more. We are all over the world.”
Over the course of multiple protests, people have been engaging with the group’s message, said Patrick Connors, a Hillsdale resident who has participated in protests with the group before.
“We've had some good turnouts at protests," Connors said. "A lot of interest from people in taking positions on these issues. I think the polling also shows that in the U.S., there's a lot of opposition to Israel's attacks on Palestinians. Now, there's a big change in terms of public opinion. Same thing with us. Attacks on Iran: A lot of opposition to that, and obviously a lot of opposition to the tactics that ICE has been using against immigrant communities, so a lot of support.”
Davies and Brien mentioned that their best-attended protest was held in January, in response to the killings in Minnesota of Alex Pretti and Nicole Good by agents from the Department of Homeland Security.
There will be more events in the near future, McCabe said.
“We'll do these pretty regularly," he said. "I mean, once the weather gets warmer, we're usually at the Hudson Farmers Market on a weekly basis."
The Associated Press contributed reporting for this article.
