Hundreds of protesters gathered at the federal building in Minneapolis on Oct. 7, 2025, to call for an end to the war in Gaza and to press for humanitarian relief and political change. The rally, one of two in the Twin Cities area, was timed to the two-year mark of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that triggered the current Israel-Hamas war. It included impactful chants for a ceasefire, signs demanding aid and accountability and speeches from local organizers, Palestinians and people from a variety of backgrounds.

The historical context of the Israel-Palestine conflict dates back to more than a century. In 1917, during World War I, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration, expressing support for “a national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine, then part of the Ottoman Empire, while promising that “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.”

After the defeat of the Ottomans, Britain took control of the territory under a League of Nations mandate (1920-1948). Jewish immigration increased sharply, aided by Zionist organizations. Subsequently in 1947, the United Nations voted to partition the territory into separate Jewish and Arab states. Arab leaders and many Palestinian Arabs rejected this proposal as the borders of the state planned for them included less than half of the total, removed them from access to fertile lands and ignored their wishes. Civil war erupted, followed by the 1948 Arab-Israeli War after Israel declared independence.

By the war’s end roughly 700,000 Palestinians were displaced or expelled in an event known in Arabic as al-Nakba, or “the Catastrophe”. Those refugees and their descendants now number in the millions, many still living in camps in dire situations of starvation and humanitarian crises. Decades of Palestinian resistance then ensued. But their situation worsened after the Oct. 7, 2023 conflict when Hamas-led militants launched a surprise attack killing around 1,200 people and took more than 200 hostages according to news sources. This ignited Israel’s large-scale ongoing military campaign. In two years of the war, Gaza has been left in ruins: over 67,000 Palestinians including innocent children have been killed, nearly 170,000 wounded and almost the entire population displaced amid destruction of homes, hospitals and schools. Starvation and disease spread as eight in 10 buildings lie damaged and more than a third of residents go days without food. The U.N. described these conditions as “catastrophic” with the Israeli government denying Palestinians access to food, water and medical care.

For many who attended, the protest was about visibility, reminding others that the war in Gaza remains ongoing. “Our occasional talks that we have in school, that we have online and social media really only do so much,” Hanya Sadiki said. She attended the protest with her sister, Anessa. “The only way that change can ever be created is through action. And action in whatever we can do is so incredibly important.”

Speakers, including Palestinian, Jewish and local activist voices, called for the U.S. to end military aid to Israel and for an immediate ceasefire. One Jewish speaker emphasized that the conflict was not a battle between religions, but a struggle for human rights. His Palestinian friend, another speaker, said “I will risk my life if you pull a single hair from his head, I will risk my life for my brother,” emphasizing that their chants and beliefs stood for equal rights for all.

Lush Stern, another protester, said they came because of solidarity with the Palestinian people and broader global struggles for liberation. “I am deeply moved by the fight for resistance, for the land back movement, both here in Minnesota and all across the world and I’ve been watching the genocide of Palestinian people live streamed for the past two years and I know it’s been happening for over 70 years and I, alongside the people here are calling to an end to the genocide,” Stern said.

As a member of the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA), Stern believes showing solidarity and being an active member of a protest is important, but the struggle for change shouldn’t stop there. “Beyond this, it’s important to get involved in an organization to fight for change on the ground, in the streets and beyond just protesting,” Stern said.

For Dylan Ward, a member of the Revolutionary Communists of America, the solution lies in collective organizing. “I’m not happy with the way things have been going. Our politicians haven’t been doing anything … if we look [at] Italy right now, they have 2 million people out on the streets right now … I really think it’s the power of the working class that will really be able to transform this movement,” Ward said.

Gallery • 12 Photos

Yasmin Khan

ALL AGES. Protesters both young and old were seen protesting to the beat of the chants and drums, even pets.

At St. Paul Academy and Summit School, students who didn’t attend the protest still follow the issue closely. Junior William Drake said, “It’s very difficult because … there is a lot of censorship around the topic and around the events, it’s not really covered very well or very often in mainstream media…[But] I think people should be supported in their opinions.”

Senior Ryan Shiroma added that protest remains one of the most accessible ways for youth to act. “It allows people to express their opinions and beliefs, preferably, in a non-violent way. And I think it’s very harmless, but it also makes an impact,” he said. “I think schools should allow protesting … but just make it easy for the people who do choose to protest to make up the work.”

The protest highlighted the ongoing concern in Minneapolis and across the U.S. about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Organizers and participants emphasized that awareness alone is insufficient and that public action, solidarity and collective action are essential to drive change. For many, the rally was a reminder that the grievances of the past should not echo into the future. Even from afar, the protesters believed their voices carried a shared message: that empathy, action and solidarity for human rights remain the strongest defiance to the violent patterns of history.