Thousands Gather in Detroit for the People's Conference for Palestine: Building a Global Front Against Genocide

By Kening Zhang | September 8, 2025

Detroit, August 29, 2025 — More than three thousand activists, community leaders, trade unionists, students, and cultural workers convened at the second People’s Conference for Palestine, held at Huntington Place in Detroit, Michigan. With the theme “Gaza is the Compass,” the three-day conference stood out as one of the most significant political gatherings for the Palestinian liberation movement in North America in recent decades.

The second annual People's Conference for Palestine opens in Detroit (Photo via People's Conference for Palestine)

A Collective Stand Against Genocide

From the opening session, the atmosphere was one of determination and solidarity. Nelson Garay of Detroit’s People’s Assembly declared, “we will not stand for the dehumanization of the Palestinian people, and we will not stand for anything less than their true liberation from a genocidal, apartheid state.” His words reflected the conference’s core message: Gaza’s struggle is not distant but central, a compass for the conscience of all movements committed to justice.

Movement Infrastructure and Organizing Power

The conference was convened by twelve grassroots organizations, including the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), and allied collectives representing women, students, workers, and artists. Beyond denunciation, participants sought to strengthen organizing infrastructure, deepen political education, and develop coordinated strategies that tie Palestine solidarity to wider struggles for justice.

Workshops and plenary sessions showcased the breadth of organizing that sustains the movement. Dockworkers and logistics unions reported on campaigns to block weapons shipments, including actions targeting corporations such as Maersk that profit from the machinery of war. Student networks shared strategies for expanding campus mobilizations and resisting repression, highlighting the vitality of youth leadership in sustaining long-term struggle. Physicians and health workers recounted their life-risking missions to deliver emergency aid under relentless bombing, famine, and siege in Gaza. At the same time, poets, musicians, and artists underscored the role of cultural resistance in sustaining morale, preserving memory, and nurturing global solidarity in the face of violence.

US labor activist Chris Smalls, the only Black passenger aboard the Handala, who was subjected to especially brutal treatment by Israeli forces including choking and kicking, in stark contrast to other detained activists, makes the opening remarks. (Photo via People's Conference for Palestine)

Building a Broader Front

Co-host Taher Dahleh, organizer with PYM and the Communications Workers of America, highlighted the cumulative power of these initiatives: “Millions marched to break the siege, flotillas set sail one after the other, doctors risked lives, went through repression, every single possible means to participate in medical missions to provide life-saving aid, and millions of workers, regular people, organized for an arms embargo, to demand that companies like Maersk halt all complicity and stop shipping weapons components to the occupation.”

Speakers consistently stressed that the Palestinian struggle cannot be separated from other global struggles. They drew links to Indigenous sovereignty, Black liberation, anti-war efforts, and climate justice movements, articulating an internationalist vision against militarism, colonialism, and racial capitalism.

The video highlights growing public opposition to U.S. military aid for Israel.

Toward Concrete Action

The conference concluded with a united call to intensify campaigns: expanding boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) efforts; scaling up union-led actions to halt arms flows; mobilizing for humanitarian missions such as the Freedom Flotillas; and pressuring governments to adopt a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel. Delegates pledged to carry the momentum of Detroit back into their cities, campuses, and unions, consolidating a stronger, more coordinated front for Palestinian liberation.

Palestinian Youth Movement organizers Aisha Nizar called for targeted, strategic, and bold interventions to disrupt the multiple points of the supply chains fueling war and death. (Photo via People’s Conference for Palestine)

A Historic Turning Point

For many participants, Detroit was not only a protest against ongoing atrocities but also a strategic gathering to lay the groundwork for long-term struggle. As one organizer reflected: “This is our generation’s anti-apartheid movement. Gaza is the compass, but the struggle is everywhere.”

The video covers the closing of the People’s Conference for Palestine in Detroit, where thousands called for ending Israel’s war on Gaza and mobilizing stronger U.S. public opposition.