Why Palestinian symbols are showing up at anti-ICE rallies

Anti-ICE demonstrations across the United States have seen growing support from Arab Americans and pro-Palestine groups, particularly in the wake of Donald Trump’s crackdown on student activists advocating for Palestine on university campuses.

Alongside protesters from Latin American communities, many waving flags of their countries of origin, pro-Palestine demonstrators have made their presence known by flying the Palestinian flag and wearing keffiyehs.

At Chicago's Federal Plaza on Tuesday, CBS News reported that protesters waved both Mexican and Palestinian flags, with many donning keffiyehs.

"I see the kuffiyahs in the streets of LA protesting against ICE. I see the flags of so many nationalities flying high in the face of white supremacy," Iman Abid, director of advocacy and organisation for US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, posted on X.

"I see the intersectionality and how fighting against one oppressive system is a fight for us all. Abolish ICE. Free Palestine."

The visible inclusion of pro-Palestine demonstrators comes after undercover ICE agents arrested student activists on visas, part of a broader clampdown that pro-Palestine groups have condemned as politically motivated and akin to kidnapping.

Several advocacy groups have expressed formal support for the protests, including Students for Justice in Palestine, which said on Monday that it was a "duty to mobilise to defend the communities most targeted by police violence and the deportation machine".

Husam Marajda, co-chair of the US Palestinian Community Network’s (USPCN) Chicago chapter, told The New Arab the group stood firmly behind the protests against the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

These policies include an expanded ICE detention quota, more frequent raids on migrant communities, and widely publicised mass deportations.

Since protests began in Los Angeles, Trump has federalised California's National Guard and deployed hundreds of US Marines to the city in a move condemned by Governor Gavin Newsom.

"Parents are being snatched from their children, workers are being terrorised in their workplaces, and Mexicanos, Centroamericanos, and so many other immigrants are being disappeared," said Marajda. "The only possible response is the one we've already seen in LA, Minneapolis, Chicago, and other cities—resistance to Trump’s terrorism and unequivocal support for those communities."

He added that the USPCN stood "with all oppressed communities, communities of colour, and working families that are struggling for justice and liberation."

Meanwhile, other Arab American and Muslim organisations have also joined the protests. The Arab American Action Network (AAAN) joined the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights for an anti-ICE protest in Chicago on Monday, with more actions planned for Thursday.

"Today we reaffirmed our commitment to continue the fight for our immigrant communities until we see an end to detentions, an end to deportations, and liberation for all people," the AAAN said in a statement.

On Wednesday, the Council for American Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil rights organisation in the US, announced it was offering legal support to communities affected by the ICE raids.

CAIR Executive Director Hussam Ayloush voiced solidarity with Latin American communities, saying they were being "terrorised" by Trump's policies.

"As we witness the same federal agencies that terrorise our neighbourhoods also fund and arm oppressive regimes abroad - including Israel's ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza – we must understand that these struggles are interconnected," he said.

"The fight for migrant justice in our country is inseparable from the global demand for dignity, safety, and liberation."