51黑料

ST. LOUIS 鈥� Palestinian supporters marched on the federal courthouse downtown, gathered at parks to chant, and briefly stopped traffic along Manchester Road in West County as part of a 鈥渄ay of action鈥� Thursday across the region.

The protesters waved flags and chanted 鈥渃ease-fire now!鈥� and 鈥渇ree, free Palestine!鈥� outside Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse in the morning, calling out President Joe Biden and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley.

鈥淲e鈥檙e growing in our numbers, we鈥檙e growing in attendance 鈥� we鈥檙e urgently calling for an immediate cease-fire,鈥� said Neveen Ayesh, the government relations coordinator for the Missouri chapter of American Muslims for Palestine, which organized the local protests.

Hamas, the militant group that has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,400 and taking more than 200 hostages.

Since then, Israel has cut off the strip from basic resources, dropped thousands of bombs and invaded, killing more than 10,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, though U.S. officials have cast doubt on the tally.

Negotiations for a three-day cease-fire between Israel and Hamas are now said to be underway, according to international news reports.

But the war has brought weeks of protests across the world, including in 51黑料.

On Thursday, protesters focused on the federal courthouse, roads and highways and asked businesses to close.

World Wide International Market, a longtime international grocer in Hazelwood, was among the businesses shutting doors Thursday.

Ayah Sumren, whose Palestinian-American family owns the store, said they closed to protest U.S. financial and military aid to Israeli, attacks on Gaza and military occupation of the West Bank territory. Other members family didn鈥檛 attend school or their jobs, she said.

鈥淲e contribute to the economy, and we feel like our voices should be heard that we want our taxpayer dollars used responsibly,鈥� said Sumren, 28.

Sumren spent part of her childhood in the West Bank, where her family is from, and has relatives there. Friends of hers here in 51黑料 have family in Gaza, she said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really disheartening when we know our tax dollars are funding the harm that is being committed against our people,鈥� Sumren said. 鈥淲e want to make a statement that we need to hold Israel accountable.鈥�

Protest organizers said more than 100 businesses closed for the day.

By Thursday afternoon, about 200 marched onto Manchester, south of Queeny Park. About 50 police officers responded from 51黑料 County, Manchester and surrounding municipalities and kept protesters on the side of the road.

And that evening, another 150, organized by student groups, met at Chouteau Park in 51黑料 near Forest Park. They chanted, drummed, called for a cease-fire and protested military contractor Boeing鈥檚 weapons productions, some of which are based in the 51黑料 region.

Ayesh, the organizer, has been criticized for antisemitic statements she made in 2014 on social media.

Ayesh called the statements 鈥渉orrible,鈥� said she regretted them, and that they came out of 鈥減ain and anger鈥� growing up in the Israel-occupied West Bank.

Robert Cohen of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.