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News :: Human Rights : International : Organizing : Politics : War and Militarism |
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Boston Protest to Stop Invasion of Palestine and Lebanon |
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by Sofia Jarrin
Email: sofiajt (nospam) yahoo.com (verified) |
21 Jul 2006
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Boston, Mass. -- “This is not a war based on religion; it’s a war based on politics,” said orthodox Rabbi Dovid Feldman from the Neturei Karta International, Jews United Against Zionism, “There was a co-existence of Jewish and Arab people before the creation of the state of Israel.” |
 Boston Peace Protest for Palestine and Lebanon |
Over 500 people gathered today at City Hall plaza in Government Center to denounce the indiscriminate attacks on the Palestinian and Lebanese population. Organized by a coalition of organizations including the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee of Massachusetts (ADCMA), the Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights, and the Muslim American Society (MAS); the rally included several speakers and intellectuals from different religious backgrounds.
Rabbi Feldman, among them, urged people to educate their friends and families about the resistance of “tens of thousands” of Jews against the Israeli aggression in the region. “This is not done in the name of Jewish religion or Jewish people, it is in the name of Zionists,” he said.
Emotions ran high as the crowd listened intently, interrupted only for a call to Muslim prayer, and cheered for those who dared raise their voice against the hostilities. “Just like we demand that Hizbullah and Hamas release their prisoners, we also demand that Israel releases the thousands of civilian prisoners that it holds,” said Dr. Essam Omeish, president of MAS, which amounts to 9,800 Palestinians, 125 women and 450 children under the age of 18, according to the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme.
Sherif Fam, a Palestinian American lawyer, reminded people that the day before Hamas took the Israeli soldier hostage, a Palestinian doctor and his brother were kidnapped from Gaza by Israeli forces. “All we hear is Israel’s right to defend themselves, well Mr. President, Palestine also has the right to defend itself,” said Mr. Fam.
He then passed around the photo of Huda Ghalya, a 10-year-old Palestinian girl who lost her father, stepmother, and three of her siblings, when an Israeli artillery attack hit a northern beach in Gaza on July 12th. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have denied responsibility for the killings, but an independent investigation by Human Rights Watch overwhelmingly supports the allegations that the Israeli artillery fire was to blame. Seven Palestinian civilians picnicking on the beach were killed that day and dozens of others were wounded.
“They say they are fighting a war against terrorism,” said Marilyn Levin, a middle-aged member of the United for Justice with Peace group based in Arlington, “Who are the terrorists? It is the US and Israel that wage terror in the Middle East, indiscriminately killing civilians, destroying their economies and the essential infrastructure that allow people to survive and prosper.”
Since the conflict in Gaza and Lebanon began a few weeks ago, 29 Israelis (15 civilians, including 3 children) died from Hizbullah's Katyusha rockets, compared to more than 115 Palestinians (half of them civilians) and 335 Lebanese. In Lebanon there are also an estimated 1,000 wounded and some 500,000 displaced.
Meanwhile, the United States continues to veto a UN resolution calling for a cease-fire, and gave Israel a window of one more week to inflict maximum damage on Hizbullah, according to British officials. Thursday, Secretary General Kofi Annan issued an empty call for an immediate end to hostilities and said that Israel’s main aim was to end the threat posed by Hizbullah in Lebanon, a move confirmed today by Israel’s amassing of tanks and troops on the southern border.
An official from the UN monitoring force in south Lebanon, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press, told The Associated Press in Beirut that between 300 and 500 troops are believed to be in the western sector of the border, backed by as many as 30 tanks. An Israeli military radio station warned residents of 12 border villages in southern Lebanon to leave before 2 p.m. Friday.
Elaine Hagopian, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Simmons College, explained that Hezbollha arose in Lebanon due to the historical repression of Shia people in southern Lebanon, first by feudal lords in Lebanon and later by Israel’s collective punishment of the civilian population in 1982 because of the PLO’s presence there. Professor Hagopian said that back then Iran and Syria began to support Hizbullah, but it became a force of its own, finally ending the 22-year occupation of Israel in southern Lebanon.
“This of course, was a humiliation for Israel,” she said, “Hizbullah understands, rightly or wrongly, that if they try to be disarmed by the UN Resolution 1559, the area would be wide open and Israel would be able to infiltrate Lebanon, control it, and thereby also control Syria.” She said the US is allowing Israel do their dirty work in order to eventually, isolate Iran in the region.
“This is part of a broader imperialist invasion,” said Kaveri Rajaraman, a graduate student at Harvard and member of the Stop the Wars Coalition, “Those with monetary and military privilege try to control the information so that the victims are portrayed as criminals.”
Abbas Kafel, 18, and his brother Ahmed Kafel, 13, sat on the steps of Government Center, their faces painted with the Lebanese flag, to call for an end of hostilities to their country of origin, although they grew up mostly in the United States. “We lost a lot of relatives in Lebanon. We don’t have a house anymore because they bombed it. My grandparents are there; all my cousins are there trying to escape and be safe,” said Abbas.
A Foxboro High School graduate, Abbas said a few family members made it into Syria but most are unsure where to go because the bombing is everywhere. He already lost a few family members, including a 6-year-old cousin. “I rather die there with them than sit here and see them die on their own,” he said, “We’re hoping for some peace and hopefully things will go alright in Lebanon — and in Israel, the innocent Jews, innocent lives everywhere.”
“We Palestinians with our Arab, Jewish and Christian friends, will not be silent,” echoed Sharif Fam. |
This work is in the public domain |
