MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Al Awda means “The Return” in Arabic. It’s also the name of a South Florida group that organized a loud protest against the Israel-Hamas war and for the human rights of Palestinians on Saturday in South Beach.
The group, Al-Awda South Florida, is based in Coral Springs and promotes itself as belonging to the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, a network of organizations that claim to advocate for refugees and internally displaced Palestinians.
On Saturday, the South Florida group’s Facebook page, which has over 9,000 followers, posted a message from the armed wing of Hamas, a US-designated terrorist organization, reporting “fierce resistance and intense clashes” against Israeli soldiers in Gaza City.
Some protesters who attended the Saturday protest told Local 10 News they do not support Hamas, but are against the war in Gaza.
The organizers of the in-person demonstration in South Beach promoted Lummus Park as a meeting point for a protest and march from 3 to 5 p.m., followed by a “Healing Circle” event from 6 to 7 p.m.
As Miami Beach police officers watched them closely, some in the group held up the red, green, white, and black flags of Palestine and signs. They marched on Ocean Drive — just hours after a Veterans Day parade.
The roots of the South Florida group go back to 2000 when a Palestinian-American scientist who was raised in North Carolina co-founded Al-Awda PRRC as a U.S.-based activist organization in opposition to the American Zionist movement.
For decades, the group has been calling on the U.S. to stop sending aid to Israel, which the leading members have defined as an “illegitimate, settler-colonial state.” Hamas was founded with the mission of creating an Islamic Palestinian state in Israeli territory.
The ongoing war in Gaza started after Hamas conducted a surprise attack on Oct. 7 that included taking unarmed hostages from a music festival and killing and hurting civilians.
Israel estimated Hamas had over 240 hostages — some with dual Israeli-American citizenship. The U.S. stood in support of Israel’s operation against Hamas militants and has advocated for sending aid to Palestinian civilians.
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