New Orleans’ Mardi Gras parades have been disrupted by pro-Palestinian groups and demands for a ceasefire during celebrations that concluded with the extravagant Fat Tuesday festivities.
Parades celebrating the Carnival season began in New Orleans on January 6 and culminated in citywide celebrations last night.
Fat Tuesday, also known as Mardi Gras Day, is the last day of festivities and usually includes the wildest and most extreme celebrations of this week-long tradition.
Parades in New Orleans are organized by social clubs known as krewes, and this year several of the groups demonstrated their solidarity with Palestine during the celebrations.
“No Mardi Gras mask can hide American-funded genocide,” read a banner protesters carried through the French Quarter during recent parades.
Amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza following Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7, carnival attendees took advantage of the hugely crowded marches to raise awareness about the conflict.
New Orleans’ Mardi Gras parades have been disrupted by pro-Palestinian groups and demands for a ceasefire during celebrations that concluded with the extravagant Fat Tuesday festivities.
Parades in New Orleans are organized by social clubs known as krewes, and this year several of the groups demonstrated their solidarity with Palestine during the celebrations.
Amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza following the October 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas, carnival attendees took advantage of the hugely crowded marches to raise awareness about the conflict.
On Tuesday, banners hung from elevated highways above New Orleans’ Mardi Gras celebrations demanding a free Palestine.
On January 27, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Jewish Voices for Peace New Orleans and Nola Musicians for Palestine joined forces to march together.
Simon Moushabeck, Palestinian artist and member of Nola Musicians, was one of the carnival participants who took advantage of the different marches to speak on behalf of his people.
Moushabeck organized the unofficial “procession for Palestine” and taught protesters Arabic and Palestinian songs to perform during the parade.
“Music is about freedom,” said Moushabeck. the Guardianadding that Israel has long prohibited the introduction of musical instruments into Gaza.
“We talked about using the platform of Mardi Gras, using the platform of the musicians on Frenchman Street… the idea of keeping a strong spirit with music, and how we have a role to play in this,” Moushabeck said.
Nola Musicians gathered participants by posting their plans on Instagram and encouraged others to join.
A 17-year-old boy born in New Orleans was recently murdered in the West Bank and another teenager who lived in New Orleans for decades was kidnapped by IDK soldiers earlier this month.
These events sparked anger within the community and passionate New Orleans residents to participate in pro-Palestinian movements during the Mardi Gras period.
The Women of Wakanda Krewe marched alongside the Chewbacchus Krewe alongside their DJ, who waved a large Palestinian flag during the parade.
“Ultimately, Women of Wakanda would show solidarity with any marginalized group facing oppression, because that is the foundation on which we were created,” said Jaleesa Jackson, co-founder of Women of Wakanda. “We take care of the community.”
New Orleans Jewish Voices for Peace said they “took over” the parade route of Krewe Du Vieux, a group known for its political satire.
On January 27, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Jewish Voices for Peace New Orleans and Nola Musicians for Palestine joined forces to march together.
The New Orleans chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace shared photos from the Jan. 28 demonstrations, where krewe members held signs, waved flags, and wore Palestinian keffiyehs.
Lila Arnaud, co-founder of Las Frijolitas, said the protests have inspired her.
“I am encouraged not only by the people of Palestine, but (also) by Afro-indigenous peoples around the world who are fighting for their right to exist on the lands they consider sacred,” Arnaud said.
The New Orleans chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace shared photos from the Jan. 28 demonstrations, where krewe members held signs, waved flags, and wore Palestinian keffiyehs.
The New Orleans chapter said they “took over” the parade route from Krewe Du Vieux, a group known for its political satire.
In a post on X, the cluster said: ‘100 Palestinian and Jewish protesters took to the Krewe Du Vieux parade route to demand: no more aid for Israel! Permanent ceasefire now!’
“Protesters used the spectacle of Mardi Gras to draw attention to the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” the group reported.
‘We did this because we know we cannot ignore the genocide unfolding in Gaza, even during Mardi Gras. We know that we must contribute our solidarity to this moment of revelry. “We must ensure that our city never stops thinking about Gaza and we must continue to show up until Palestine is free.”
Pro-Palestine signs were seen hanging throughout downtown New Orleans on Tuesday.
“No Mardi Gras mask can hide American-funded genocide,” read a banner protesters carried through the French Quarter during recent parades.
The origins of Mardi Gras date back to medieval Europe during the years of pagan celebrations of spring and fertility.
Mardi Gras does not fall on the same date every year, but it always occurs on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.
Since then it has become a day full of parades and celebrations around the world in places like New Orleans, Venice and Rio.
Approximately 1 million people attend Mardi Gras in New Orleans each year.
The Mardi Gras festivities have historically been the site of resistance and protest, beginning in 1811, when more than 500 slaves used the celebrations to rebel against slavery, chanting “freedom or death” while burning New Orleans plantations.
In 1957, blacks in New Orleans refused to participate in Mardi Gras after the Montgomery bus boycott.
Protesters in 2017 used the parade to protest Trump’s presidency.