As attendees gathered for the first night of the annual Jewish National Fund USA's Global Conference for Israel, several hundred protesters gathered at the Auraria Campus to call for the liberation of Palestine and an end to the Israel-Hamas war.
The conference put on by the Zionist organization has spurred a string of protests against it taking place in Denver and more are planned over the next few days.
"We demand a ceasefire now," said Nadeen Ibrahim of the Colorado Palestine Coalition from the bed of a truck Thursday night. "We demand an end to the occupation next. And we demand absolute and complete Palestinian Liberation."
Many of the speakers at the Auraria rally decried Zionism, the philosophy that Jews should have a Jewish state. The movement emerged after centuries of violence against Jewish communities. The Zionist movement led to the creation of Israel on British-occupied Palestinian land, a project that displaced many Palestinians from their homes.
The Jewish National Fund, an organization formed in 1901, was instrumental in buying land to create a Jewish state and continues to fund land acquisition and development projects across Israel for Jews. The Global Conference for Israel taking place at the Colorado Convention Center until Sunday is one of the largest gatherings of Zionists in the U.S.
At the rally, multiple pro-Palestinian protesters described Israel as a genocidal apartheid state and called for its abolition.
Some expressed grief for the Israelis killed in the Oct. 7 attack along with the many more Palestinians who have died since, and multiple protesters said they were speaking out against Zionism -- not Judaism -- and that Jews would be welcome in a free Palestine.
"We are here to say we stand tall and proud for freedom for all. That includes Jews," said Palestinian artist Meera Alul to the crowd's cheers. "We Palestinians are proud to share our land as we did for centuries before Zionists launched their vicious power trip because we know the Holy Land is important to all religions [and] because we know that a land as beautiful as Palestine deserves to be appreciated."
Protesters shut down Speer Boulevard and Colfax Avenue before marching to the convention demanding Zionists leave Denver.
The sound of the protesters did not penetrate the convention center walls, but conference attendees looked out the windows where protesters stood with signs like "Stand with Palestine! End the Occupation Now!"
Denver Police and Sheriff officers worked to create a barricade between the conference goers and the demonstrators.
Inside, attendees mourned those killed in the Oct. 7 attack and rallied around Israel's history and future.
"This is a profoundly difficult time," Gov. Jared Polis told the crowd. "Oct. 7 is a date that will be forever etched in history for Israel and the world as a demonstration of abject cruelty and hatred."
He spoke of the personal connections many in the room had to victims of the attack carried out by Hamas militants and described the day as "a nightmare brought to life." He condemned a rise in antisemitism in the U.S.
"If anyone asks why the world needs a Jewish state of Israel, the evidence is even more self-evident than ever before," he said.
Gilad Erdan, the Israeli representative to the United Nations, drummed up support for the war against Hamas and described the U.N. as an anti-Israel group.
"When the General Assembly called for a ceasefire, I declared loud and clear that there will be no ceasefire -- never," he told the crowd. "Because the meaning of a ceasefire is to allow Hamas to remain in control of Gaza...
"Anyone who supports a ceasefire supports Hamas' reign of terror," he added. "They support Israelis being murdered. They support Gazans being used as human shields."
Instead of a ceasefire, Erdan said, Israel "will eradicate Hamas. We will free Gaza from Hamas, and we will build a brighter future for Israelis and Gazans alike."
Erdan continued by saying that Israel's war against Hamas, both in Gaza and at the UN, is a battle for Israel's future.
"It's either us or them, and it must be us. Israel is here to stay forever," Erdan said.
Wearing an Israeli flag-themed coat, Sam Goldberg, president of the JNF USA Mountain States Region declared that the organization is building the "golden era of Jewish history" and that "the era of the cowering Jew is over."
The Jewish National Fund USA conference will continue through the weekend.
Pro-Palestinian protesters, including the Colorado Palestine Coalition, various socialist groups, and Jewish Voice for Peace and are planning an interfaith picket Friday, a march at the State Capitol on Saturday, and more actions on Sunday.
