On September 20, I stood at John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park in Tulsa, Oklahoma, shoulder-to-shoulder with Tulsans gathered in response to Oklahomans Against Occupation’s call to march in solidarity with Palestinians under siege in Gaza. Roughly 150 people joined the Oklahoma City-based organization, which formed in October 2023 to advocate for Palestinian freedom.
That morning, the air was humid and the energy felt charged. The sound of chants like “Free, free Palestine,” “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and “Up, up with liberation, down, down with occupation!” carried across the city’s Arts District. In the four months that I’ve lived in Tulsa, this was the loudest I had heard the city. In that moment, Tulsa—a city still reckoning with the legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, when state authorities sanctioned racist mob violence that destroyed a thriving African American neighborhood—felt like a place alive with purpose.
Jason Kerzinski
Roughly 150 people joined the march, which was organized by Oklahomans Against Occupation.
People across the state have been turning out to support Palestine. Oklahomans Against Occupation is one of many pro-Palestinian organizations based in Oklahoma and has worked alongside the Palestine Solidarity Working Group to organize protests and teach-ins throughout the state. Students for Justice in Palestine chapters at both the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have also hosted protests and have called on their respective schools to divest from all companies complicit in Israel’s military occupation. Meanwhile in Tulsa, activist group Free Palestine Tulsa gathers every Thursday to protest against Israel’s military occupation and starvation of Palestinians. Despite these efforts, Oklahoma state legislators continue to pass anti-Palestinian legislation such as HB 3967, which prohibits state agencies from working with companies that boycott Israel.
Earlier this year, the state passed two “Antisemitism Awareness” bills that codified the International Holocaust Remembrance Association’s definition of antisemitism, which includes political speech such as “claiming that the existence of Israel is a racist endeavor.” The American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy organizations have argued that these measures inhibit free speech by targeting dissent from those who voice dissent toward Israel. Advocates say the bills make it easier to suppress political voices and groups like Oklahomans Against Occupation, heightening the risks for those who gather in solidarity with Palestinians.
Jason Kerzinski
Participants protested U.S. backing of the genocide in Gaza.
During the march, strangers were united in their chants, woven together into a rhythm of resistance against the genocide in Gaza. During the rally that followed, Dr. Talal Ali Khan, a nephrologist who worked in several hospitals in Gaza last summer, described to the crowd how, when he entered Gaza, he felt like he was “stepping into a cement graveyard.” He said he could not fathom how hospitals were no longer considered sacred (Israel routinely violates international law by bombing health care facilities). Even against that backdrop of devastation, Khan spoke about the importance of hope, urging the crowd to continue standing up, fighting, and making their voices heard.
“We have a responsibility,” Khan told the crowd. “Our courage and our humanity need to rise up, at whatever capacity.”
Jason Kerzinski
Tulsa residents marched peacefully through the city’s Arts District.
For the first time since arriving, Tulsa didn’t feel like a place I was drifting through. It felt like a place where the struggle against genocide and injustice continues, where ordinary people gather not only to protest what is wrong but to insist on the creation of a better world.