A queer pro-Palestine protester was shoved by a police officer. Now she’s been charged (exclusive)

Author: Ryan Adamczeski

After being the victim of violence herself, Lamia Moukaddam is the one facing charges.

While it may have seemed like just one woman provoked the incident, Moukaddam says, “The reality of it is that the Orlando Police Department has done this for months and years now until it really culminated to a moment like that.”

“This repression has been going on, specifically toward pro-Palestine and our pro-Lebanon protesters,” she says. “But this is just a micro example of a bigger picture in which these tactics are also happening overseas. This brutalization is happening overseas, and it’s being brought home even to the point of our experiences in jail. The only difference between us in the sweltering heat in the back of the prison van is that in Gaza, they wouldn’t be let out.”

The Orlando Police Department is now investigating to determine if excessive force was used during the arrests. Moukaddam says that “while it’s great that an investigation is being opened, it’s interesting to have the abuser investigate themselves.”

Moukaddam and her fellow protesters are now “working toward ensuring that all charges get dropped and also ensuring that all of the officers are held accountable.” Central Florida Queers for Palestine is also hosting a bail fund to assist the group. Moukaddam says the brutality they experienced won’t stop them from mobilizing again.

“Our intention for the protest was to bring visibility to the terrorist attacks happening in Lebanon right now with the phone pagers and the increased bombardments as well in Gaza,” Moukaddam says. “We’re about to host a week of action and just continue to show up in the streets, continue to protest, and really just not let their repression get in the way.”

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed over 40,000 people, more than 10,000 of whom were children, the AP reports. Since Israel began escalating attacks in Lebanon, 530 have been killed, including nearly 100 civilians.

To Moukaddam, whose family is Lebanese and whose father and grandfather were involved in resistance, “It’s a generational duty to continue to fight.”

“Seeing my family being blanket bombed, there is no choice but to fight back,” she says. “The more that we let happen here in silence, the worse that it’s going to get. Change needed to happen yesterday, but if it has to happen today, then that happens today.”

Original Article on The Advocate
Author: Ryan Adamczeski