Anti-Israel activists called for a shift from protests to militancy and violent revolution at protests against the presidential debate between US President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump in Atlanta on Thursday.
"We say f**k the police, we will burn it down and take what is ours in the streets. And that isn't an empty threat, it's a promise," said a woman speaking to around a hundred activists in a protest organized by Palestine Action US. "The days of protests are behind us, and to be peaceful in the belly of the beast that commits unlimited genocide on the Global South is a disgrace. It is time we follow the lead of militants of oppressed nations. It is time to change our orientation from one of protest to resistance."
Advertisement for the "stop the debate" protest explained that both Biden and Trump were part of a system that needed to be upended, calling the choice between Democrat and Republican a "false choice. In a video published by Palestine Action US, the speaker calling for the beheading of the "two-headed beast."
"Intifada, Intifada: Long live the intifada," chanted activists. "Globalize the intifada."
Opting for a 'tactical retreat'
The Escalate network said on X Friday that the protesters had opted for a "tactical retreat" when confronted by police. The group claimed that a speaker cited the philosophy of deceased terrorist Basel Al-Araj, and told other protesters "we fight when we are ready, not when the enemy is ready."
The Party for Socialism and Liberation also held protests outside the CNN Atlanta studio where the debate was held. PSL's own presidential candidate Claudia De la Cruz joined the pro-Palestinian protests.
"As Genocide Joe and arch-racist Donald Trump each clamored to call themselves bigger supporters of Israel and the war machine than their opponent, more and more people reject the two-party system and desire an alternative," PSL Atlanta said Saturday on Instagram. "No matter who takes the presidency in November, we will not let up until we get a permanent ceasefire, an end to the occupation, and an end to all US aid to Israel! We must build a mass movement that will tear down this unjust system!"
Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America and Atlanta Multifaith Coalition for Palestine also participated in the PSL protests.
One photograph shared on Saturday on Instagram by the coalition said that the "whole damn system's got to go."
Atlanta DSA said Saturday on social media that neither Trump nor Biden represented the "will of working people."