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News :: |
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PRO-ISRAEL PARADE DRAWS PROTESTS (english) |
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by Workers World
Email: boston (nospam) workers.org
Phone: 617-983-3835 |
10 Jun 2003
Modified: 11:53:55 AM |
PRO-ISRAEL PARADE DRAWS PROTESTS
By Bill Cecil |
-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the June 23, 2003
issue of Workers World newspaper
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PRO-ISRAEL PARADE DRAWS PROTESTS
In 1948 European settlers used terror, force and massacre to drive
nearly 800,000 Palestinians from their homes and land. More than 400
villages were wiped off the map. In New York City this genocide is
celebrated in an annual festival of hatred and bigotry called the Salute
to Israel parade.
The organizers seek to mobilize the Jewish community in particular to
support Israel's U.S.-funded reign of terror against Palestinians today.
This year they failed. The city's hated mayor, billionaire budget-cutter
Michael Bloomberg, and other white politicians--no Black elected
officials were present--led contingents from private schools and a
smattering of corporate floats up Fifth Avenue. But the turnout was
sparse and the organizers were hard-pressed to fill the time alloted for
the event. To make it appear larger, they arranged large gaps between
contingents and had many of them march the route twice.
Protesters were there, too, many of them Jewish. Opposition to the hate
march was organized by Jews Against the Occupation and the Palestine
Activist Forum. They carried Palestinian flags and signs denouncing
Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and supporting the right
of Palestine refugees to return to their homes.
Some carried pictures of Rachel Corrie, the Olympia, Wash., trade
unionist crushed to death by an Israeli soldier as she tried to stop his
bulldozer from demolishing a Palestinian family's home. Protesters
chanted, "Nothing here to celebrate, Israel is a racist state," and sang
a song in support of Palestinian freedom to the tune of the Jewish
children's song "Dreidl." Another chant told the marchers, most of whom
hailed from prosperous, segregated suburbs, "Long Island is your home,
leave Palestine alone."
A group of black-clad observant Jews from the Neturei Karta movement
waved Palestinian flags. Israeli Army veterans were also among the
demonstrators. The parade was thrown into further disarray when
activists ran into the street and blocked the route with a sit-in. Two
people were arrested. --Bill Cecil
- END -
(Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and
distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not
allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY,
NY 10011; via e-mail: ww (at) wwpublish.com. Subscribe wwnews-
on (at) wwpublish.com. Unsubscribe wwnews-off (at) wwpublish.com. Support the
voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) |
See also:
www.workers.org
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Rally for Palestine Sun. June 15th (english) |
by Maya
(No verified email address) |
10 Jun 2003
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a pro-israel/ pro war event is occuring at
the world trade center in Boston from noon-2:00
A large group of new england anti-war protesters are going there to show Bostonians that the mainstream media can't silence the struggle for Palestine.
Please come.
see you there |
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