Betsey Piette

On October 8, 2023, one day after the massacre of over 1,200 Israeli citizens by Hamas, Piette participated in an anti-Israel rally and march held in support of Hamas. The event took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was reportedly organized by the Philly Palestine Coalition.

Piette appeared in a photo at the rally holding a sign that read: “Free Gaza / FREE PALESTINE” and “US - Stop Funding Zionist Terror” followed by “Workers World Party.”

On October 19, 2023, Piette spoke [01:21:35] during public comment against Philadelphia City Council Resolution 230706 titled: “Condemning the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel and calling for a peaceful resolution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.”

Piette said [01:22:11]: “I have to ask. What would this council have done about apartheid in South Africa? Would you have passed a resolution supporting the right of those carrying out apartheid…against the attacks from those fighting apartheid? If you vote for this resolution, it’s the same thing.”

Piette continued [01:22:56]: “What about the inalienable right of oppressed people to resist?”

Several protesters were forced out of the City Council meeting reportedly for disrupting other speakers who supported the resolution during public comment.

On October 19, 2023, the City Council reportedly unanimously approved the resolution to condemn the Hamas attacks.

On October 26, 2023, Piette participated in an anti-Israel rally outside U.S. Senator John Fetterman’s office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The rally was organized by several anti-Israel organizations, including Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). They called on Fetterman to back an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

On October 18, 2023, Fetterman tweeted: “Now is not the time to talk about a ceasefire. We must support Israel in efforts to eliminate the Hamas terrorists who slaughtered innocent men, women, and children. Hamas does not want peace, they want to destroy Israel. We can talk about a ceasefire after Hamas is neutralized.”

At the rally, protesters blocked [slide 3] the entrance to Fetterman’s office during rush hour traffic. Nour Qutyan, a Philly Palestine Coalition leader, led protesters in chanting: “Ceasefire now!”

On November 28, 2023, Piette wrote an article for the International Action Center (IAC) where she claimed that Israeli hostages who Hamas kidnapped on October 7, 2023, and then released later that year “showed no fear of their captors.”

Piette also argued that to “call Israelis ‘hostages’ and Palestinians ‘prisoners’ is in itself a distortion. Since Israeli settler colonialism stole Palestinian land over the last 75 years, any imprisoned Palestinians can be considered hostages of an illegal occupation.”

On October 13, 2023, Piette wrote an article for WW in which she referred to the Hamas massacre of Israeli civilians on October 7 as a “historic uprising of Palestinians.”

As of January 2024, Piette was listed as a founding board member of Playgrounds for Palestine (PfP), founded by pro-terror anti-Israel activist Susan Abulhawa. Piette’s PfP bio said she was a retired accountant and former business manager for a childcare center and “most recently” an organizer of many anti-Israel demonstrations.

As of May 2023, Piette was listed under “Staff and Volunteers” for the Palestine Writes Literature Festival, an event that reportedly “featured several activists who promoted conspiracies about Jewish power and called for violence against Israel.”

As of the same date, Piette’s Palestine Writes bio said she retired in 2012 and “currently manages the finances” for Palestine Writes. Her bio also said she was the managing editor of the Workers World Newspaper (Workers World), the newspaper of the Workers World Party (WWP), and an organizer with the International Action Center (IAC).

As of December 2023, Piette was an author for anti-Israel websites Popular Resistance, Workers World and IAC.

As of the same date, Piette’s Facebook page said she lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.