Special Report

Election 2024

For the Sake of Palestine, San Antonio Socialist Party Urges Members to Vote for Third-Party Presidential Candidate

By

November 4, 2024

Categories

Special Report: Election 2024

Tags

Share

(SAN ANTONIO, Texas) – The San Antonio branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) urged citizens to vote for a third-party presidential candidate at a community discussion on Oct. 11 to build upon the pro-Palestine movement in San Antonio.

Approximately 30 college students, elders, and parents with young children filed into the San Antonio Liberation Center, where three folding tables sat in the center of the room, and a 9-year-old cheerfully handed out PSL flyers to all who attended. The walls were lined with posters depicting slogans for Palestinian, LGBTQ, and women’s liberation.

Mallika Kodati, a 23-year-old University of North Texas student, led the opening statements by noting how politics have sifted since Oct. 7, 2023, when the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel. 

During the attack, 1,200 people were killed, and 250 hostages were taken into Gaza. The event prompted an Israeli military offensive against the group, which has ultimately killed “more than 41,500 people,” according to Reuters

“It’s a shame that the U.S. continues to fund the genocide and occupation despite the massive outrage and the massive public movement for Palestine,” Kodati said. “But we can’t let this demoralize us. We can’t let ourselves slip into inactivity, right? Because this is just the beginning of a longer struggle.” 

The crowd nodded their heads in agreement.

A crowd at PSL community discussion hosted by PSL in San Antonio, Texas, on Oct. 11, 2024. [Credit: Melanie Love Salazar]

“We might hear some people say…despite all the movement that’s been happening over the past year, that the genocide is still ongoing,” Kodati said. “But we can’t let that slow us down…Even though the Palestinian struggle for liberation is long, we will see Palestine be free.”

Kodati cited examples of years-long movements, such as the anti-war movement in Vietnam and resistance against Jim Crow laws in the last century.

Organizers Nick Martinez, 21, and Haneen, 26, who requested her last name be omitted, reviewed PSL actions over the previous year, including rallies in and outside Texas, shutting down a San Antonio city council and fundraising for pro-Palestine billboards in San Antonio.

Haneen said her courage to become more active in the movement comes from having two cousins and an aunt presently living in Gaza. 

“I always knew that they lived there, but when the first week hit of the genocide, and then their family got killed, I was just like, it could happen to anybody,” Haneen said. “I’m trying to advocate for them all the time, trying to fundraise money through my artwork as well.”

Martinez said that although the presidential election has “momentarily diverted people’s attention away from Palestine,” attendees can avoid feeling “forced to vote for the lesser of two evils” by casting their vote for Claudia De la Cruz and Karina Garcia, who are running as candidates for the PSL.

As the presentation came to a close, they led a chant with the attendees, who erupted in a passionate shout of “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” a controversial phrase commonly recited at pro-Palestinian rallied and protests.

PSL member Nick Martinez gives a presentation at the PSL community discussion in San Antonio, Texas. [Credit: Melanie Love Salazar]

Full-time PSL community organizer Chris Banks opened the meeting up for comments from the crowd, which continued to grow throughout the night.

One of the attendees asked organizers how those who agree with PSL can continue drawing attention to the movement after the election. 

“Saying this as one person that works as a social worker in a hospital, I talk about it everywhere I go,” another attendee responded. “I provide education as I go to the people in my surroundings as appropriate because you have to choose what hill you die on.”

The attendee also echoed a concern shared among many in the center. They didn’t feel comfortable voting for Donald Trump or Kamala Harris but worried that voting Green was a “vote to the Republican Party because it [the U.S] is really a two-party system.”

“During an election, there’s no better way to show the mass movement that we’re trying to provide for the Palestinian people than by showing up at the polls saying that we’re no longer going to put up with the two parties of genocide,” Martinez responded.

PSL organizer Chris Banks speaks at a community discussion in San Antonio, Texas. [Credit: Melanie Love Salazar]

Other attendees took exception with how some major media portray the conflict, how some Democratic leaders support Palestine in word but not deed, and a “flawed education system” that contributes to misinformation. 

“For us, it’s what we do the day after the election and for the next four years,” Banks said. “Our sights aren’t only on what’s happening one election cycle to the next. We, as a working class, have to have a bigger strategy…a more mature approach to long-term struggle.”

Special Report: Election 2024

December 10, 2024

San Franciscans Reclaim Their City

San Franciscans got results after organizing dozens of neighborhood groups to roll back a progressive approach to crime from pre-pandemic years. 

November 25, 2024

California Voters Reject Proposition 6, Keeping Forced Labor in Prisons

On November 5, California voters rejected Proposition 6, which would have prohibited forced labor in state prisons. The measure failed with 53% voting against it.

Photo captured during David McCormick's victory speech for Pennsylvania Senator.

November 7, 2024

Businessman David McCormick Defeats Three-term Senator Bob Casey Jr. in Pennsylvania

Two days after Election Day, the AP declared McCormick the winner in a race divided by less than a percentage point.

November 7, 2024

Montreal Democrats Abroad Grapple with Harris and Walz Loss

The Democrats Abroad election watch party felt like an emotional rollercoaster for many attendees, who did not expect a defeat for Harris.

Linden Board of Education Incumbents, Berghammer, Cintron, and Pino at School No. 4 New Playground Grand Opening

November 7, 2024

Incumbents Retain Three Seats on the Board of Education in Linden, NJ

Three incumbents win the election for school board #community #education

Read More