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News :: Human Rights : International : War and Militarism |
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Protests in Boston Against Israel's Attacks on Gaza |
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by Sofia Jarrin
Email: sofiajt (nospam) yahoo.com (unverified!) |
28 Dec 2008
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A day after Israel's air raids on Gaza, which claimed at least 290 lives and more than 900 wounded according to the Palestine News Network (http://english.pnn.ps/), a coalition of groups in Boston gathered on Park Street to protest Israel's aggression. Protests have been carried out in several cities in the United States and around the world.
Haaretz, one of Israel's main newspapers, reported that the attacks had been in the planning for months. Hundreds in Tel Aviv came out to protest the bombings saying that military action against Gaza does nothing to improve security in Israel.
RELATED: Protests in Houston and New York City. Planned protests in DC and Los Angeles. Visit: http://indymedia.us/en/index.shtml |
 Protests in Boston Against Israel's Attack on Gaza |
"It's genocide. It's a holocaust," said Frank from Arlington about Israel's policy in the occupied territories. "I don't say that to diminish the horror of the holocaust, but that's what they're doing." Frank has Jewish family in the United States and said that many progressive Jews feel terrible about what is going on.
About 80 people showed up on Park Street on a very short notice to protest the bomb raids on Gaza. There was a general sense of anger and hopelessness as people stood holding signs that read "Stop Israel's War Crimes on Gaza," "Stop the Massacre on Gaza," and "Gaza on My Mind." The UN Security Council held emergency talks overnight calling for an immediate ceasefire.
Kathy Roberts, an early childhood educator from Cambridge, visited the Palestinian territories twice, once in 2007 and once in 2008, and was outraged about the bombings. "Israel doesn't want peace," she said. "When you think of what it's been done to Palestine... I have visited the refugee camps. I have talked to people who lost their property." She explained how Palestinian homes continue to be demolished to make way for Jewish settlements.
Since Hamas was elected two years ago in an internationally monitored election, Israel has waged a choking campaign on its government by withholding its assets and carrying out a blockade of essential items such as gas, food, and medicine. Amnesty International condemned the blockade as "collective punishment," where people have been forced to face a lack of basic needs such as electricity and clean water.
"This action appears calculated to make an already dire humanitarian situation worse, one in which the most vulnerable--the sick, the elderly, women and children--will bear the brunt, not the men of violence who carry out attacks against Israel," read a press release back in January of 2008.
Kathy said that the apartheid system in the occupied territories or against those of Palestinian heritage is deplorable. "Even Israeli-Arabs are treated terrible. They are worse than second class citizens," she said. Traveling through the West Bank, she explained, is a mind-opening experience as one has to deal with hundreds of checkpoints scattered through its territory.
The protest in Boston was organized mostly by the Palestinian and Arab American community, with support from many Jewish and local activists, to oppose Israel's aggression. Faten, who has been living in Boston for a few years but has most of her family in Gaza, said that some of her family's neighbors were killed during this weekend's violence. "Gaza has a high-density population. Any bombing is likely to affect civilians," she explained.
"Everyone in the Arab world is protesting," said her friend Hana, "but no one can do anything because Israel is getting all their help from America." Israel receives more military aid from the United States than any other country, which amounted to $2.4 billion in 2008. They all hope that a new Obama administration will be able to pressure Israel into legitimate peace negotiations. |
 Protests in Boston Against Israel's Attack on Gaza |
 Protests in Boston Against Israel's Attack on Gaza |
 Protests in Boston Against Israel's Attack on Gaza |
 Protests in Boston Against Israel's Attack on Gaza |
 Protests in Boston Against Israel's Attack on Gaza |
 Protests in Boston Against Israel's Attack on Gaza |
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See also:
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/
http://english.pnn.ps/
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This work licensed under a
Creative Commons license. |
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new york protest 12/28 |
by peacepal
(No verified email address) |
29 Dec 2008
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http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2008/12/102516.html
Another NY Mets Fan Against the Occupation! |
See also:
http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2008/12/102516.html
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