Thousands of Israelis protest Gaza war in Tel-Aviv

[umbertino]

by: Combined Sources

July 29 2014

 

 

 

TEL AVIV, Israel - Some 7,000 Israelis on Saturday evening protested the war in Gaza under the banner: "No more deaths - Israeli-Palestinian peace, now." According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, it was the largest protest against the Israeli military operation in Gaza thus far. With Israel having a population of about 8 million, it was the equivalent of a rally of about 250,000 in the U.S.

 

It took place in Rabin Square in central Tel Aviv. The square is named for Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli prime minister who negotiated the 1993 Oslo Accords with the Palestine Liberation Organization and was assassinated by an Israeli right-wing extremist in 1995.

 

Slogans chanted by the protesters included "Stop the war," "Bring the soldiers back home" and "Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies." Participants called for an end to the fighting and a return to negotiations to end the occupation of Palestinian territories. They lit memorial candles among photos of the dead, both Israelis and Palestinians.

 

The protest was organized by Hadash (Democratic Front for Peace and Equality), of which the Israeli Communist Party is a leading component; Combatants for Peace, composed of former Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters; and The Parents' Circle - Families Forum, an organization of bereaved Palestinian and Israeli families.

 

Speakers included Knesset (Parliament) member Dov Khenin, who is a leader of the Israeli Communist Party; an Israeli captain in the reserves and a Palestinian veteran from Ramallah in the West Bank, both from Combatants for Peace; Ben Kfir of The Parents' Circle - Families Forum; Yifat Solel, head of the left-wing Zionist Meretz party's anti-occupation forum; Professor Eva Illouz, president of Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Israel's 107-year-old national art school; writer Odeh Basharat, columnist for Haaretz and the Palestinian newspaper al-Ittihad; and Dr. Julia Chaitlin, a lecturer at Sapir Academic College in Sderot and resident of kibbutz Urim in southern Israel near Gaza. The Meretz party and Peace Now organization had opted not to take part in the rally, according to Israel's Channel 2.

 

"So many heartbreaking moments happened this month," Khenin told the rally, as reported by Haaretz. "A son crying over his father's grave, a mother weeping for her son, and many pictures of the wounded and dead. Behind each picture is a name, a family. We must answer truthfully: Has a drop of all this bloodshed really helped bring us to a better place?"

 

The Israeli government, he said, should support the recently formed Palestinian unity government headed by Mahmoud Abbas, and negotiate for a peaceful just solution.

 

Kfir, whose daughter was killed in a Hamas suicide bombing in 2003, also spoke, and challenged the government's claim that there is no partner for peace among the Palestinians. He and other speakers criticized the Israeli government for its negative attitude toward peace negotiations, and for making war its default policy. Kfir noted, ""The infrastructure of terrorism is ignorance, poverty and despair. It is with these we must deal."

 

Roughly 300 extreme right-wing counter-protesters were on the scene trying to sabotage the main demonstration. According to Haaretz, they "shouted 'Death to the leftists'" and "merrily sang 'Why is there no school in Gaza? Because no more kids are left.'" A large police presence circled the square to keep the sides separate. Several of the rightists were arrested.

 

The invitation to the peace protest read: "On Saturday, the peace camp takes a stand at Rabin Square. The war is taking a heavy toll in lives and injuries on both sides, in destruction and horror, in bombings and rockets. We answer this by taking a stand and making a demand: end the war now!"

 

"We must end the war and start talking with the recognized Palestinian leadership of the West Bank and Gaza to end the occupation and the siege and to achieve independence and justice for both peoples - in Israel and Palestine."

 

"Instead of being drawn, again and again, into more wars and more military actions, it is now time to lead the way to dialogue and a political settlement. There is a political solution. What price must we pay - the people of the South and the other residents of Israel, and the people of Gaza and the West Bank - until we reach that solution? Together, Jews and Arabs, we will overcome occupation and war, hatred, incitement and racism - and offer a path to life and hope."

 

 

Photo: A scene at Saturday's peace rally in Tel Aviv, Israel. Combatants for Peace Facebook page

 

 

 

http://www.peoplesworld.org/thousands-of-israelis-protest-gaza-war-in-tel-aviv/

[dog53]

Funny I didnt here about it on main stream media 

[Maggie123]

Funny I didnt here about it on main stream media 

 

I Did...  Also saw articles about that right here on DV.

 

Actually... This Is Happening All Over The World... The Protests Denouncing This Israeli Genocide Of The Palestinians.

 

People Are Getting Really Pizzed... They Want This To Get STOPPED NOW!!!

[flatdawg]

Hey George, I'm gonna beat you to it; they are self-hating jews.

<sarcasm>

[Thaiexpat]

I guess I am a self-hating Jew also. No matter, I am an American FIRST, Jew second or third or whatever....

Dunno, just saying.....Funny, Dawg.

[Djorgie]

Too bad everyone couldn't protest for peace and then actually be peaceful, which is what it is all about...

 

We need love and forgiveness in our hearts so that we may have peace. It's painfully obvious that the world is much more full of hatred and fear which is what is feeding the beast and thus the results we are witnessing all around the world.

 

Prayers going out for protection of ALL of YHWH'S/God's children and for those who don't yet know him that they may be brought under the spirit and submit to him in Yahushua Ha Mashiach/Jesus Christ the way, the truth and the life!

[pattyangel]

Djorgie...Ditto!!!

[Maggie123]

Too bad everyone couldn't protest for peace and then actually be peaceful, which is what it is all about...

 

We need love and forgiveness in our hearts so that we may have peace. It's painfully obvious that the world is much more full of hatred and fear which is what is feeding the beast and thus the results we are witnessing all around the world.

 

Prayers going out for protection of ALL of YHWH'S/God's children and for those who don't yet know him that they may be brought under the spirit and submit to him in Yahushua Ha Mashiach/Jesus Christ the way, the truth and the life!

 

That Is What They Are Protesting For... "PEACE"

 

I misspoke when I said "People Are Getting Really Pizzed"... Understandably People Are Upset About The Situation.

 

It Has Gotten Pretty Extreme... All The Innocent People Involved... Especially The Children.

 

"The invitation to the peace protest read: "On Saturday, the peace camp takes a stand at Rabin Square. The war is taking a heavy toll in lives and injuries on both sides, in destruction and horror, in bombings and rockets. We answer this by taking a stand and making a demand: end the war now!"

 

"We must end the war and start talking with the recognized Palestinian leadership of the West Bank and Gaza to end the occupation and the siege and to achieve independence and justice for both peoples - in Israel and Palestine."

 

"Instead of being drawn, again and again, into more wars and more military actions, it is now time to lead the way to dialogue and a political settlement. There is a political solution. What price must we pay - the people of the South and the other residents of Israel, and the people of Gaza and the West Bank - until we reach that solution? Together, Jews and Arabs, we will overcome occupation and war, hatred, incitement and racism - and offer a path to life and hope."

 

Out of the 7000 people there... only a few were "Not For Peace".... certainly not a majority...

 

"Roughly 300 extreme right-wing counter-protesters were on the scene trying to sabotage the main demonstration. According to Haaretz, they "shouted 'Death to the leftists'" and "merrily sang 'Why is there no school in Gaza? Because no more kids are left.'" A large police presence circled the square to keep the sides separate. Several of the rightists were arrested."

 

This is a huge step for the Israeli citizens to defy Nutanyahoo in this way... I am very glad to see this.

 

I also pray for all their protection and for a lasting solution...

 

 

Edited July 30, 2014 by Maggie123

[MyLadiesDaddy]

Israeli communist party? Seriously.

This is your answer to my question about what Israel should do about the Hamas missile's

constantly being fired into Israel, Maggie?

I wonder, what should Israel have done about those three students who were kidnapped

and tortured and killed?

Not trying to mock you Maggs, just attempting to ascertain your thoughts.

[Maggie123]

Israeli communist party? Seriously.

This is your answer to my question about what Israel should do about the Hamas missile's

constantly being fired into Israel, Maggie?

I wonder, what should Israel have done about those three students who were kidnapped

and tortured and killed?

Not trying to mock you Maggs, just attempting to ascertain your thoughts.

 

Stop Trolling... Go Away LGD

[Maggie123]

The protest was organized by Hadash (Democratic Front for Peace and Equality), of which the Israeli Communist Party is a leading component; Combatants for Peace, composed of former Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters; and The Parents' Circle - Families Forum, an organization of bereaved Palestinian and Israeli families.

 

[MyLadiesDaddy]

Stop Trolling... Go Away LGD

WHAT?

After four years and because I ask you a serious, but tough, question I'm a troll.

Going away is NOT an option. With all that is happening on planet earth, I'm doubling

down. The Spirit of the Lord compels me. Though I really did want your response.

And by the way, where's the outrage over the multiple thousands ruthlessly murdered

In Iraq? Israel gets several threads and everyone brutally attacking anyone who even

remotely supports Israel, yet Iraq barely gets one. So why is it everyone on this planet

hates Israel? And yet so pathetically few even know what is going on in Iraq. And

that because Obama took ALL our troops out. WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE?

[umbertino]

Quote

It Has Gotten Pretty Extreme... All The Innocent People Involved... Especially The Children.

End Quote

Exactly Maggie... I heard  before on the News that there  have been about 270 children killed ( Palestinian) so far.

 

Edited July 30, 2014 by umbertino

[pattyangel]

That's okay LDG, she hit me with the trolling cry.  She doesn't understand that we have the same interest in threads, but different views.  So she calls us trolling, which I find to be very distasteful.  If this is the case then we are all trolls in Maggie's eyes, that includes Maggie.  I'm tired of having to tip toe around a person because their views are different then mine, and then to be struck back at as a troll or whatever names comes to mind. 

 

LDG, your questions are legit and it's boggling that there is so much hate.  But we both know that the evil one is here and doing its works. 

[dog53]

 

Quote

It Has Gotten Pretty Extreme... All The Innocent People Involved... Especially The Children.

End Quote

Exactly Maggie... I heard  before on the News that there  have been about 270 children killed ( Palestinian) so far.

 

 

 

Damm Umbert

dont you ever get tired

of $ucking up 

     

 

Just messen with ya man

 

[Thaiexpat]

Damm Umbert

dont you ever get tired

of $ucking up 

     

 

Just messen with ya man

 

My papa (RIP) always told me, "Make sure your boss is taller than you. That'll make easier to kiss his a$$!" Now. I know where I got my Jewish-sense of humor! Malzol tof!