[Reader-list] Reports of Protests against Israeli Air Strikes in Gaza

[Aman Sethi]

Dear All,

An addition to the roster of un(der)reported protests.

In case this doesnt make it to the press,just attended a massive
protest rally outside the Israeli consulate at 42nd Street in New
York. The crowds stretched for almost 8 blocks all the way up to 50th
Street. The organisers- Al Awda New York - claimed an attendance of
nearly 20,000 - which did seem to be a bit excessive - but it
certainly was a rather large and noisy crowd.

There are protests planned for the coming weeks - a calendar of
protests can be found at
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=1773


The tone of the protest was largely around pressuring the American
administration to use its leverage with the Israeli state to end the
attack - even as Israel announced plans of sending in tanks, armoured
vehicles and troops. Other reports on a variety of news channel
suggest that the Israeli Navy has also moved in.

While the speakers - as at most rallies - had their own specific
stands on the invasion, the culpability of the US, and the nature of
the state of Israel; the main organisers made it a point to announce
that they were not anti-semitic in any way, but were against a certain
form of Zionism as manifested in the actions of the Israeli
administration.

The weather, by the way, was terrible.
best
a.


On Sat, Jan 3, 2009 at 1:04 PM, Rahul Asthana <rahul_capri at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Shuddha,
> What do you think the Indian state should do,in response to the recent terror attacks?
> Thanks
> Rahul
>
>
> --- On Tue, 12/30/08, Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha at sarai.net> wrote:
>
> > From: Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha at sarai.net>
> > Subject: [Reader-list] Reports of Protests against Israeli Air Strikes in Gaza
> > To: "Reader-list list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
> > Date: Tuesday, December 30, 2008, 6:02 PM
> > Dear All,
> >
> > We are all aware of the terrible toll of unarmed civilian
> > casualties
> > caused by the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) air strike on
> > Gaza a few
> > days ago. It demonstrates yet again the willingness of
> > those who
> > currently hold power in Israeli to sabotage the chances of
> > a lasting
> > and durable peace with the Palestinian people. There is no
> > other way
> > to describe these air strikes other than as acts of gross
> > state
> > terrorism.
> >
> > Of course, Hamas, (which controls the West Bank, and whose
> > origins
> > lie in the cultivation by Israel of an 'Islamist
> > Opposition' within
> > the Palestinian ranks in the eighties and earlier ) with
> > its own
> > obduracy has contributed to the 'blowback' that
> > holds the peace
> > process in Israel-Palestine hostage to a never ending cycle
> > of
> > competitive retribution.
> >
> > Militant Zionists, Fundamentalist Islamists and inflexible
> >
> > Palestinian Nationalists have a joint vested interest in
> > the
> > perpetuation of conflict in a manner that should come as no
> > surprise
> > to those familiar with the faultlines  and destinies of
> > identity-
> > based conflicts in South Asia.
> >
> > There are  of course, a few stray voices in the Indian
> > 'blogsphere'
> > who are already calling for 'India to Emulate
> > Israel'. Some of them,
> > such as this one,
> >
> > http://blogs.expressindia.com/showblogdetails-comments.php?
> >
> > pg=2&contentid=393780
> >
> > come from Dr. S. Subramaniam, IPS (Retd.)
> >
> > He says -
> >
> > "..A country which did not have a geographical
> > existence before 1948
> > is continuing to show the way on how to respond to
> > terrorism...They
> > strike at the terrorist bases wherever they are, ignoring
> > standard
> > international conventions and borders...India has to
> > reassess its
> > policy options and think of non traditional measures for
> > tackling
> > this menace.In this, we have a lot to learn from both
> > Israel and USA."
> >
> > Dr. Subramaniam  has had the distinction of being the
> > former DG of
> > NSG (National Security Guards) CRPF (Central Reserve Police
> > Force)
> > and Founder of SPG (Special Protection Group). So he is not
> > exactly
> > an audolescent Hindutva shadow warrior on testosterone who
> > admires a
> > bit of Israeli state muscle flexing (and there are lots of
> > those). He
> > is a former senior ranking officer who has held posts of
> > great
> > responsibility in the security establishment in India. I
> > sincerely
> > hope that his views represent the opinions of an isolated
> > fringe that
> > has no current influence in the corridors of power.
> >
> > However, especially at times like this, it becomes
> > important to
> > complicate the picture. Just as  few Indians  and
> > Pakistanis (or so I
> > hope) other than some hyperventilating television anchors
> > and
> > isolated armchair warriors within and without the military-
> >
> > intelligence complexes in India and Pakistan have been
> > recently
> > rooting for war, so too, there is a substantial component
> > within the
> > spectrum of Israeli public opinion and civil society that
> > is outraged
> > (and justly so) by the IDF's disproportionate and
> > lethal show of
> > force in Gaza.
> >
> > And just as many of those in India and Pakistan who are
> > committed to
> > combatting war hysteria and the hardening of postures have
> > been
> > condemned as 'traitors' by their jingoist peers. So
> > too, many in
> > Israel today are willing to stand up and be called
> > 'traitors' because
> > they condemn events like the attacks on Gaza. I think this
> > kind of
> > action that runs the risk of being called 'treason'
> > are worthy of
> > being honoured. Right now, I am rooting for all  those who
> > are being
> > called, or run the risk of being called 'traitors'
> > for opposing
> > militarist options in India, Pakistan, Israel and Palestine
> > by their
> > respective 'uber-patriotic' peers.
> >
> > Please find below, a report and a reflection on protests,
> > in Israel,
> > by Israeli people, against the Israeli state's assault
> > on Gaza. May
> > their tribe increase. Characteristically, these have been
> > reported
> > far less in the international media in comparison to the
> > protests
> > across the Arab and Islamic world.
> >
> > regards,
> >
> > Shuddha
> >
> > ------------------------
> >
> > 1. Hundreds of activists in Tel Aviv protest IAF strike in
> > Gaza
> > By Ofri Ilani, Haaretz Correspondent (Haaretz is a
> > mainstream but
> > liberal Israeli Newspaper)
> > http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1050470.html
> >
> > Hundreds of left-wing and human rights activists marched in
> > the
> > streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday night to protest the
> > massive Israel
> > Air Force offensive in Gaza that left at least 230 dead and
> > hundreds
> > more wounded.
> >
> > The protesters marched from Tel Aviv's Cinematheque
> > toward the
> > Defense Ministry offices. Police, some mounted on
> > horseback,
> > surrounded the protesters, arresting five of them.
> >
> > According to the protesters, Israel's military action
> > in Gaza does
> > not protect Israeli citizens or provide them security.
> >       Advertisement
> > "No one can tell us that slaughtering the citizens of
> > Gaza is meant
> > to protect the citizens of Sderot and Ashkelon," said
> > Matan Kaminer,
> > a student who participated in the march.
> >
> > Some protesters complained of extraneous force on the part
> > of horse-
> > mounted police, but overall the march remained non-violent.
> >
> > Similar protests took place in Arab villages in the Galilee
> > and in
> > Bedouin villages in the Negev.
> >
> > 2. Onslaught on Gaza - protest on Day 1, in Tel-Aviv
> > Report by Adam Keller for The Other Israel, December-2008--
> >
> > January-2009 issue
> > http://chet-justice.blogspot.com/2008/12/onslaught-on-gaza-protest-on-
> >
> > day-1-in.html
> >
> > Saturday, December 27 - a few minutes to midnight. War in
> > Gaza. It
> > has come.
> >
> > This morning, some of us got up with anxiety to listen to
> > the early
> > morning news, and go on hoping against hope for a few more
> > hours.
> > This morning, more than two hundred Gazans, whose names we
> > will
> > probably never know, woke up without guessing that is was
> > their last
> > morning. And also in the Israeli border town of Netivot,
> > the 58-years
> > old Beber Vaknin got up and went strolling through the
> > quiet weekend
> > streets of his hometown, not knowing that long before
> > sunset he would
> > become part of statistics. A very favourable body count
> > indeed for
> > Day 1 of Israel's newest war - one dead Israeli to 225
> > Palestinians,
> > as of this hour. Cheers!
> >
> > The mass bombing and killing at 11.30 am came as a shocking
> > surprise
> > - even though there had been, in fact, no reason whatsoever
> > to feel
> > surprised. Out of our anger and outrage, sharp texts of
> > angry protest
> > and denunciation were feverishly written and hurled out to
> > other
> > activists, to the media, to anyone and everyone in Israel
> > and the
> > whole world who might possibly be willing to listen:
> > "The Gaza war is
> > the vicious folly of a bankrupt government",
> > "Barak conducts his
> > elections campaign by bloodshed on both sides of the
> > border."
> >
> > At record speed, a rendezvous for protest was suggested by
> > the
> > Coalition of Women for Peace and quickly taken up by
> > Hadash, Gush
> > Shalom, the Anarchists, Tarabut and also the Meretz
> > grassroots
> > network. The message spread among all by word of mouth and
> > phone and
> > email and SMS and Facebook: "Stop the War! Stop the
> > War! Gather at
> > 6.00 pm for
> >
> > "Stop the War! Stop the War! Gather at 6.00 pm for an
> > open planning
> > meeting at the Tel Aviv Cinemateque Square. We march out at
> > 7.30.
> > Come one, come all!" Friends were contacted in both
> > bombed Gaza and
> > bombed Sderot, both giving their heartfelt support to any
> > effort to
> > stop the madness. Transportation was improvised from Haifa
> > and
> > Jerusalem, and even from the Arab towns of Tyra and
> > Nazareth some
> > came to Tel-Aviv, though there were demonstrations going on
> > in their
> > hometowns.
> >
> > The police, too, had somehow heard of it. Long before six,
> > the
> > Cinemateque was surrounded on all sides - ordinary police
> > and riot
> > police and mounted police, and more and more patrol cars
> > arriving and
> > unloading additional ones every minute. "Look, these
> > ones don't carry
> > pistols - they have automatic rifles! Do they intend to
> > bring the war
> > here, too?" whispered a girl in an Animal Rights
> > t-shirt.
> >
> > On the side a dozen youngsters were intensively preparing
> > placards.
> >
> > "Stop the massacre!" / "Olmert's War -
> > Our Victims!" / "War is not
> > election s spin" / "No to the murder of
> > innocents!" / "We Israelis
> > say: The Government of Israel perpetrates War Crimes!"
> > /
> > "International Intervention Now!" / "EU,
> > Stop the War!". "Livni,
> > Murder is not Feminist!" / "Thou Shalt Not
> > Kill!"
> >
> > One slogan came up very often: "This is not my
> > war!" It was written
> > again and again in Hebrew, Arabic, English or a combination
> > of these.
> >
> > Meanwhile, there was an event taking place inside the
> > Cinemateque
> > building, planned long in advance, of the African refugee
> > community
> > in Israel›calling upon the authorities to give asylum to
> > the refugees
> > and not deport them.
> >
> > A young black woman came over, speaking of children in
> > Congo, her
> > homeland, being forced to work at mines and handle
> > carcinogenic
> > materials. The circumstances didn't allow to go in and
> > give this
> > cause the attention which it also deserves.
> >
> > By seven o'clock, the Cinemateque Square was crowded
> > with over a
> > thousand present. More than what one would expect in Israel
> > during
> > the very first hours of a war, amidst the kind of war fever
> > which the
> > Israeli media is capable of.
> >
> > Lines were formed, banners unfurled, and the drummers
> > started their
> > rhythm - but the police stretched their own line after
> > line, blocking
> > all exits. A large-scale violent clash seemed inevitable
> > but
> > organizers called out: Stop! Wait! and began negotiating.
> > After some
> > twenty tense minutes the call was sounded: Forward! and to
> > the wonder
> > of all, the police ranks parted to let protesters through.
> >
> > The compromise with the police was that the march take a
> > route to the
> > Ministry of Defence avoiding interference with main street
> > traffic.
> > The inhabitants of the normally tranquil Sprintzak Street
> > looked down
> > from their balconies to the ongoing stream of chanting
> > protesters:
> >
> > "Jews and Arabs Refuse to be Enemies!" / In Gaza
> > and Sderot, Children
> > Want to Live!" / War is a disaster - Peace is the
> > solution!" / Stop
> > the War! Return to the Truce!" / Silence the guns -
> > Save the
> > peoples!" / Barak, Barak, hey, hey, hey - How many did
> > you kill
> > today?" / "Bloodshed will not buy you
> > power!" / "The blood is flowing
> > for the ministers' prestige!" / "The blood is
> > flowing for the polls
> > of the corrupt parties!" / "No to War! - Back to
> > Negotiations!"
> >
> > Even "No to War! - Yes to Peace!", which on most
> > days would sound
> > like a naive truism, was today a sharp radical message.
> >
> > For a considerable while, police did not intervene, but at
> > the corner
> > of Kaplan Street there was suddenly a charge of the mounted
> > police
> > directly into the crowd, a scuffle and angry shouts of
> > "Police
> > State!" - "Forward, forward!" called the
> > organizers. "We have an
> > appointment with Olmert at the Ministry of Defence."
> >
> > Several hundred metres to the right and the Ministry gates
> > appear on
> > the far side of the street. "Ladies and gentlemen of
> > the press - our
> > attack on Gaza today was surgical an pin-pointed", the
> > voice of
> > Olmert on the radio, which some activists put on, is
> > broadcast from
> > the towers across the street. "Liar, war
> > criminal!" rises the shout
> > as if answering from the street, and several young people
> > broke
> > through the police fences, trying to block the street - to
> > be
> > immediately dragged into the waiting patrol cars.
> >
> > It continued until half past nine when it was announced:
> > "We are
> > finished here for today, but we will continue to come back
> > until it
> > is over. Anyone willing to spend some more hours, join us
> > to picket
> > the police station where our friends are held."
> >
> > In the bus, on the way home, the radio - amidst all the war
> > reports
> > from the south - carried a short report of the
> > demonstration. The
> > number of protesters was given as two hundred... It was an
> > obvious
> > hostile reporting, a way of trying to diminish the
> > opposition to the
> > war.
> >
> > But maybe, one should not be too discouraged with getting
> > mentioned
> > at all, on such a day of media-orchestrated war euphoria.
> >
> >
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