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SF Shout Out For Palestine
A.N.S.W.E.R. Emergency Demonstration
San Francisco Shout Out for Palestine!
On Monday, July 3rd, 2006 the A.N.S.W.E.R. Collation sponsored an emergency demonstration at the Israeli Consulate, 456 Montgomery, San Francisco.
The event could hardly be more timely. On June 28th Israel initiated an assault into Gaza. Israeli forces destroyed 3 bridges and a power plant. The 1.4 million residents of Gaza have had their basic necessaries for sustaining life severely curtailed. The United Nations has warned that a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
This is in addition to the already existing condition of 9000 Palestinians being held in Israeli jails, 1000 of which are "administrative detainees" - held without charges or trial. A considerable number of the remaining 8,000 prosecuted on confessions obtained through torture.
According to Normal Finkelstein, professor of Political science at DePaul University in Chicago: "Since Israel withdrew from Gaza in September 2005 ‘til today, the estimates run between 7,000 and 9,000 heavy artillery shells have been shot and fired into Gaza."
On June 12 Huda Ghalia, a young Palestinian girl picnicking on a Gaza beach with her family lost her father, step-mother and 5 siblings to an Israeli shell.
The protest was loud and spirited - and well it should be with the festering outrage of American complicity in such atrocities. The shout out in support of the Palestinians out shouted the counter demonstration held at the same spot at the same time.
Lastly, the San Francisco Police Department did an excellent (and appreciated) job doing only was necessary in keeping the peace and all matters within the law.
Here are some pictures:
On Monday, July 3rd, 2006 the A.N.S.W.E.R. Collation sponsored an emergency demonstration at the Israeli Consulate, 456 Montgomery, San Francisco.
The event could hardly be more timely. On June 28th Israel initiated an assault into Gaza. Israeli forces destroyed 3 bridges and a power plant. The 1.4 million residents of Gaza have had their basic necessaries for sustaining life severely curtailed. The United Nations has warned that a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
This is in addition to the already existing condition of 9000 Palestinians being held in Israeli jails, 1000 of which are "administrative detainees" - held without charges or trial. A considerable number of the remaining 8,000 prosecuted on confessions obtained through torture.
According to Normal Finkelstein, professor of Political science at DePaul University in Chicago: "Since Israel withdrew from Gaza in September 2005 ‘til today, the estimates run between 7,000 and 9,000 heavy artillery shells have been shot and fired into Gaza."
On June 12 Huda Ghalia, a young Palestinian girl picnicking on a Gaza beach with her family lost her father, step-mother and 5 siblings to an Israeli shell.
The protest was loud and spirited - and well it should be with the festering outrage of American complicity in such atrocities. The shout out in support of the Palestinians out shouted the counter demonstration held at the same spot at the same time.
Lastly, the San Francisco Police Department did an excellent (and appreciated) job doing only was necessary in keeping the peace and all matters within the law.
Here are some pictures:
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I was there and found it very depressing. No dialog, no exchange of information, no respect was shown by either side to each other.
What purpose does it serve to gather and scream at each other?
Someone remind me, please?
What purpose does it serve to gather and scream at each other?
Someone remind me, please?
Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been jumping up and down so vigorously lately about that "kidnapped" soldier that I'm afraid he's gonna follow Ariel Sharon's example and have a stroke too. "If they don't release Cpl. Shalit, I am going to assassinate the Palestinian Prime Minister!" he cried.
Yeah, then what? The Palestinians are gonna retaliate and assassinate you? Sounds childish to me. I got a better idea.
Let's send Cpl. Gilad Shalit to the Hague and try him there. It's a neutral place. He'll get a fair trial. He's a soldier. Was he "only following orders" or not? I want to know. The Palestinians want to know. Maybe Olmert doesn't want to know but, hey, perhaps this will keep him from having a stroke.
And justice will be served.
Yeah, then what? The Palestinians are gonna retaliate and assassinate you? Sounds childish to me. I got a better idea.
Let's send Cpl. Gilad Shalit to the Hague and try him there. It's a neutral place. He'll get a fair trial. He's a soldier. Was he "only following orders" or not? I want to know. The Palestinians want to know. Maybe Olmert doesn't want to know but, hey, perhaps this will keep him from having a stroke.
And justice will be served.
I wonder if the morons in Jewish Voice for Peace realized that the couple of dozen Palestinians there were chanting "Itbach Yahud" (Kill the Jews)?
A couple of the pro-Israel people went to talk to some of the protestors. From what I understand, there was some good dialogue, especially with one guy holding both an Israeli and Palestinian flag.
One of the protestors did come to the pro-Israel side for dialogue. Unfortunately, he was cornered by an extreme right winger so I doubt if anything good came of it.
One of the protestors did come to the pro-Israel side for dialogue. Unfortunately, he was cornered by an extreme right winger so I doubt if anything good came of it.
No one was shouting "kill the jews" in any language. That is NOT the orientation of any of the folks demonstrating, palestinian or ally. I am pretty sure most readers of indyvbay know better than to accept you bogus lies.
The protest spread over both sides of a block.. I was there, and I heard the chants, too. If you didn't hear them, you may have been in the wrong position.
At a rally last year, the same thing happened....then the audio files appeared on http://www.zombietime.com, and all the people denying them fell silent. Shall we wait for that to happen again?
At a rally last year, the same thing happened....then the audio files appeared on http://www.zombietime.com, and all the people denying them fell silent. Shall we wait for that to happen again?
I'd be interested in hearing them. Where I support the Palestinian cause and understand that Israel is a terror state, I do not support people chanting "Kill the Jews". I also don't believe that it was said--but I'm open to real proof that it was.
Thanks.
Thanks.
It was said in Arabic. You can ask one of your buddies for a translation. In the meanwhile, for your listening pleasure:
http://www.zombietime.com/bus_19_berkeley/
Where you can hear chants "2, 4, 6, 8 We are martyrs, we can't wait" and similiar pleasantudes
http://www.zombietime.com/bus_19_berkeley/
Where you can hear chants "2, 4, 6, 8 We are martyrs, we can't wait" and similiar pleasantudes
"Since Israel withdrew from Gaza in September 2005 ‘til today, the estimates run between 7,000 and 9,000 heavy artillery shells have been shot and fired into Gaza."
From Sleepless in Sderot:
Judy Lash Balint
Since the Israeli withdrawal from Gush Katif last summer, Sderot has become the new address for a barrage of Kassam rockets fired from the area of the now-destroyed Jewish communities of Dugit, Alei Sinai and Nisanit. According to IDF statistics, more than 600 Kassams have been launched against Israel from the Gaza Strip since last September. Several have targeted the Ashkelon industrial area, but it's Sderot, barely 3 miles away from Beit Hanoun, that has borne the brunt of the onslaught.
Last weekend alone, seventy of the crude arrowhead missiles were launched toward Israel. Four Israelis were wounded and a few buildings were damaged. Every time there?s an incoming Kassam, a warning siren sounds. It's called "Red Dawn" and provides all of 15 seconds for people to dive next to a wall or under the bed. To say that the citizens of Sderot are on edge would be a severe understatement.
Mayor Moyal has a more sober assessment of the effect of the Kassams on Sderot's children. "More than 50 percent of kids here are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome," he asserts. "It manifests in all kinds of ways; they're sleeping in their parent's beds, can't concentrate on their studies, taking pills," he adds.
From Sleepless in Sderot:
Judy Lash Balint
Since the Israeli withdrawal from Gush Katif last summer, Sderot has become the new address for a barrage of Kassam rockets fired from the area of the now-destroyed Jewish communities of Dugit, Alei Sinai and Nisanit. According to IDF statistics, more than 600 Kassams have been launched against Israel from the Gaza Strip since last September. Several have targeted the Ashkelon industrial area, but it's Sderot, barely 3 miles away from Beit Hanoun, that has borne the brunt of the onslaught.
Last weekend alone, seventy of the crude arrowhead missiles were launched toward Israel. Four Israelis were wounded and a few buildings were damaged. Every time there?s an incoming Kassam, a warning siren sounds. It's called "Red Dawn" and provides all of 15 seconds for people to dive next to a wall or under the bed. To say that the citizens of Sderot are on edge would be a severe understatement.
Mayor Moyal has a more sober assessment of the effect of the Kassams on Sderot's children. "More than 50 percent of kids here are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome," he asserts. "It manifests in all kinds of ways; they're sleeping in their parent's beds, can't concentrate on their studies, taking pills," he adds.
The fact that young Palestinians are willing to give up their lives in resistance to the occupation is not a strategic move on the part of the Palestinian Authority. It's not like they are wringing their hands as if they are delivering a decisive blow. It only goes to show the desperation of life living under the occupation that people, especially young people, are willing to give up their lives in resistance. Are we forgetting that 1.4 million people have very severely curtailed access to electricity, water, health care, fuel, freedom of movement - and are under indiscriminate shelling?
It only goes to show the desperation of life living under the occupation that people, especially young people, are willing to give up their lives in resistance.
It is tragic to live in a society without hope.
What matters is how you deal with it. Do you choose the path of King and Gandhi, or do you choose the path of violence and war?
I am reminded of the Jews after World War II. Their homes were gone. Their families were gone. They had nothing left and nothing to live for. Rather than seeking revenge against their tormentors, the reminding Jewish population sought to peacefully re-establish their lives.
There is always a choice. Choose peace.
It is tragic to live in a society without hope.
What matters is how you deal with it. Do you choose the path of King and Gandhi, or do you choose the path of violence and war?
I am reminded of the Jews after World War II. Their homes were gone. Their families were gone. They had nothing left and nothing to live for. Rather than seeking revenge against their tormentors, the reminding Jewish population sought to peacefully re-establish their lives.
There is always a choice. Choose peace.
The path of peace is great, but it is understandable that as long as Israel continues to terrorize the people of Palestine, some will get frustrated enough to fight back with what little they have.
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