By Martha Grevatt
March 17, 2026
Since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, mass rallies in defense of Palestinian resistance and against U.S. imperialism have been held internationally on the last Friday of Ramadan, which the new revolutionary government declared as Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day. This year people responded in the millions in defense of Palestinian and Iranian resistance to imperialism.
Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi (front center), walks in Tehran’s Al Quds Day demonstration, during bombing. (Islamic Republic News Agency)
Pro-Palestinian and antiwar activists in major cities across the U.S. held anti-imperialist actions on March 13 and during the following weekend.
Many hundreds of people filled the center of Times Square at 42nd Street and Broadway in New York City. After the more than two-hour rally, there was a march to Herald Square.
Times Square rally, New York City, March 13, 2026. (PHOTO: Jennifer Green)
About 150 people of all ages, including babies in carriages, amassed on the sidewalk of a very busy multilaned road in front of Avalon Mall in Alpharetta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, to mark Al-Quds Day. Their multiple signs and banners denounced the wars against Palestine, Iran and Lebanon. The demand “Free Palestine!” dominated their chants and speeches, as well as condemnations of the genocide in Gaza and Israel’s continued bombing of Lebanon and land seizures in both Lebanon and Syria.
Atlanta, March 13, 2026.
Speeches highlighted the consistent solidarity of Iran with the revolutionary forces opposing imperialism. A solidarity message from Workers World Party, a longtime ally in past Al-Quds Day demonstrations, opened the program, which had a number of speakers. The overall response from those in the hundreds of vehicles that passed by the loud crowd was positive, with honking horns, thumbs up and friendly smiles and waves that outnumbered the occasional boo.
In Seattle, 100 militant demonstrators defied an all-day snowstorm to protest on March 13. Demonstrators carried flags and demanded an end to the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran and Palestine. They called for money for schools and health care — not for genocide against the oppressed working classes of West Asia. The Al-Quds Day action was inspired by the great anti-imperialist resistance to the U.S. war against Iran and Palestine.
Seattle, March 13, 2026. (Photo: Jim McMahan)
Sara Flounders, Dianne Mathiowetz and Jim McMahan contributed to this article.
