Featured photo: Protesters raise awareness about the ongoing genocide in Gaza on Sept. 6 during the first night of the NC Folk Festival (photo by Brandon Demery)
Photos by Brandon Demery
On Friday evening, as the first acts for this year’s NC Folk Festival began to warm up and play in downtown Greensboro, a group of about 30 protesters marched through the tents to raise awareness of the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
According to Morgan Blythe, an associate of Veterans for Peace, an international peace organization, the group was protesting as part of a series of demonstrations with 25 other chapter across the country for the first week of September, otherwise known as Peace Month.
“We’re just trying to raise awareness that what we’re witnessing isn’t just immoral, it’s actually going against our laws,” Blythe said.
In addition to marching through the event, protesters handed out flyers to a mostly supportive crowd. According to Blythe, onlookers raised their firsts and threw up peace signs as they walked through.
“We found it very productive that the majority of the community is with us as well,” Blythe said.
Understanding that hundreds had come out to enjoy the live music, the group didn’t chant when music was playing and made sure to be mindful of not getting in the way of audiences. Their goal, was just to raise awareness of the continued suffering of the Palestinians.
“We were trying to provoke the citizenry to act,” Blythe said.
The action by Veterans for Peace comes as the attacks by the Israeli government in Gaza hits its almost a 1-year anniversary since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas, which prompted this round of conflict. In that time, more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed by ongoing efforts by Israeli military, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. However, a calculation by Lancet estimates that the cumulative effects of the genocide could mean that a true death toll could be closer to 180,000 people.
Follow the Triad branch of Veterans for peace on Instagram at @triad_vfp_coalition.
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