Several anti-war groups gathered near The Grassy Knoll downtown Sunday to protest conflict with Iran.
Chitose Suzuki / Staff Photographer
The weekend attack on Iran by U.S. and Israeli forces triggered worldwide protests, including in Dallas where over 100 people gathered downtown Sunday to denounce the military action.
People of all ages stood on The Grassy Knoll off Elm Street holding signs that read “Human rights have no borders” and “We the people means everyone,” only a day after the United States and Israel started attacks on Iran.
The event was organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement, the DFW Antiwar Committee, the DFW branch of Party for Socialism and Liberation and others. Children climbing trees nearby held a large Iranian flag between them as organizers moved through the crowd and handed out smaller flags for others to wave.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, was killed in Saturday’s attack on military and government sites in the country, Iranian state media reported early Sunday. The country’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said a new supreme leader would be chosen in “one or two days.”
As of Sunday afternoon, Iranian authorities said more than 200 people have been killed since the start of the strikes. Three members of the U.S. military have been killed, and five have been seriously wounded, according to U.S. Central Command.
Iran has launched counterattacks against U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar since the initial attack, the Associated Press reported.
In Dallas, organizers led protesters in chants of “From the belly of the beast, hands off the Middle East” and “We want justice, you say ‘how?’ Hands off Iran now.”
As the crowds chanted, cars driving past honked their horns and threw peace signs at protesters.
Speakers from the Palestinian Youth Movement and Freedom Road Socialist Organization said they met today to grieve and acknowledge that shame is not a strong enough word to describe what is happening in Iran.
Sumayyah Chenault, with the Palestinian Youth Movement, said ongoing U.S. aggression against other countries has grown tiresome and damaging.
“Americans are fed up with these forever wars,” Chenault said. “Trump campaigned on a promise of peace, and yet he’s only escalated violence from Venezuela to Gaza and now fully opened a new war against Iran.”
Rick Majumdar, who identified himself as part of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, told The Dallas Morning News that organizers oppose the attacks.
Worldwide reaction to military action
On streets around the world, there were protests in outrage or bursts of celebration.
Pope Leo XIV, the first pope from the U.S. in the history of the Catholic Church, said he was “profoundly concerned” about the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and urged both sides to “stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss.”
Demonstrations were also held in cities including New York, Berlin, Paris and Vienna by members of the Iranian diaspora and their supporters, celebrating the end of Khamenei’s rule. Some demonstrators waved flags of the Iranian monarchy, with Israeli and U.S. flags also on display.
Thousands of jubilant demonstrators marched through Paris on Sunday to celebrate the U.S. and Israeli strikes and express hope for regime change in Iran.
Waving Iranian, Israeli, American and French flags, the crowd chanted ″Freedom for Iran!″
Members of the large Iranian diaspora in France and their French supporters marched from Bastille Plaza, birthplace of the French Revolution, toward a statue of Joan of Arc. One group opened a bottle of Champagne, and the atmosphere was festive.
The night before, a crowd of Iranian demonstrators danced across from the Eiffel Tower.
Paris also saw a small counter-protest Sunday by left-wing groups denouncing ″American imperialism″ and warning of broader war.
The protest on Sunday came on the heels of a demonstration Saturday, when a small group gathered at John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza in support of an organized resistance in Iran for a peaceful transition to democracy.
Staff Writer Suryatapa Chakraborty and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
