Rallying in support of Gaza

http://socialistworker.org/2009/01/02/rallying-in-support-of-gaza
WAR AND ANTIWAR
Elizabeth Schulte rounds up reports of demonstrations of solidarity with the Palestinian population of Gaza.
January 2, 2009

AS THE news spread that the Israeli government had begun raining bombs on the people of Gaza December 27, tens of thousands of people around the world surged into the streets in the hours and days that followed to speak out in support of the Palestinian victims of this onslaught.

Throughout the Middle East, people protested Israel's latest atrocity. In Ramallah, hundreds marched to the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority in the largest demonstration held there in several years. As Mel Frykberg of InterPress Service reported:

Elegantly turned out middle-aged women from Ramallah's Christian minority marched side by side with tough young men from the surrounding refugee camps. Grandmothers, journalists, factional leaders, and mothers with toddlers walked, linking arms with a scattering of international sympathizers based in the cosmopolitan central West Bank city.

Some protesters then marched to the nearby Israeli military checkpoint of Beit El, where Israeli police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse them.

In Beirut, Lebanon, on the third day of Israel's assault, tens of thousands protested in pouring rain at a demonstration called by the Islamist resistance organization Hezbollah. Demonstrators carried Palestinian, Lebanese and yellow Hezbollah flags and banners.

Protesters in many cities marched to Egyptian consulates and embassies to condemn Egypt's government for closing its border with Gaza, which has helped fuel the humanitarian crisis there.

In Egypt, hundreds of thousands have taken part in protests around the country. Thousands more gathered in Damascus, Syria; Khartoum, Sudan; Amman, Jordan; and in Baghdad in occupied Iraq.

''The Israelis kill our people in Gaza and the West Bank,'' Yassin Abu Taha, a protester in Jordan's Baqaa camp for Palestinian refugees, told the Associated Press. "The Americans kill our people in Iraq. We're refugees, kicked out of our home in Tulkarem in 1967 and we're still displaced."
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IN THE U.S., where mainstream political leaders voiced unanimous support for Israel's war of terror against Palestinians, solidarity actions nevertheless came together in a matter of hours.

Some 2,000 marchers turned out to line eight blocks of downtown Dearborn, Mich., where there is a large Arab-American population.

In Orange County, Calif.--a generally conservative area south of Los Angeles--as many as 1,000 protesters gathered in Anaheim the day after the attacks. The rally, initiated by a coalition of groups including Al-Awda, brought out large numbers from the local Arab and Muslim community. Spontaneous marches took place, lasting from early afternoon until well past nightfall, with people young and old leading chants and marching with their friends and families.

Nayef, a young Palestinian American came to the protest with his family. "I'm here because we need a protest to let the world know we must end the occupation," he said. "It's unfair and just not right to kill innocent civilians for no reason." His 11-year-old cousin, Anas, said: "I wish that the people of Gaza could have enough food and for Gaza to be free...that's why I am here."

In San Francisco, hundreds of protesters took over the downtown intersection of Montgomery and Market December 29 and occupied it for two hours, without arrests, before continuing their march to Union Square.
The same day, some 500 people protested in Chicago's freezing temperature at Water Tower Place. Several organizations co-sponsored the event, including leftist, antiwar, Muslim, Palestinian, Arab and Jewish peace groups. The crowd was mostly Arab and Arab American, but with strong support from other groups, including student organizations from at least five universities.

On December 30, thousands of protesters in several cities--including San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New York, Los Angeles and Chicago--took part in a national day of action called by a number of groups, including the ANSWER Coalition, the Muslim American Society, the National Council of Arab Americans, the Free Palestine Alliance, Al-Awda-International Palestine Coalition for the Right of Return and others.
In San Francisco, 2,000 people gathered to protest at the Israeli consulate--the crowd was so large that demonstrators took over the streets and began marching through downtown San Francisco. Despite the interruption to their evening commute, many motorists could be heard honking their support of Palestine.
Large numbers of people of Middle Eastern descent, who have at times been ignored by the antiwar movement, attended. Iraq Veterans Against the War member Carl Davison said, "What is happening in Iraq is the same as what is happening in Palestine. This is the U.S. raining down imperialism against people who are almost defenseless, and it is unacceptable."

In Washington, D.C., 3,000 protested at the State Department. In Los Angeles, 1,000 rallied for three hours at the Israeli consulate. At the same time, a protest called by Los Angeles Jews for Peace took place at the Federal Building in west Los Angeles, drawing 300 people.

Hundreds turned out at the Israeli consulate in New York City, separated by police barricades from pro-Israel protesters. "I'm shocked at what Israel is doing--indiscriminately killing children, women...punishing an entire population for the acts of a few," protester Dalia Mahmoud told WABC.

In Boston, 200 people rallied against the massacre in Gaza, chanting "Stop the blood, stop the hate, Israel is a racist state!" The demonstrators also confronted Israel supporters who had gathered across the street to defend Israel's terrorism. The rally continued at Copley Square, where there was a speak-out. Plans were made for further actions.

In San Diego, 500 gathered at the Federal Building on December 30. The protesters were there "to demonstrate against the massacre of our people in Gaza and the rest of occupied Palestine," said Youssef Abudayyeh of the Free Palestine Alliance.

"People are outraged. We need to attract the larger American public about the massacre that is taking place in our names with our tax dollars...We call on people to do whatever they can to demonstrate our outrage."
Khalid Mansour, who has visited family members in Gaza and the West Bank, said, "Gaza is the biggest open prison. What they are doing is pushing us in this little open prison, and they are bombing us...It's just too much to see what is going on."

Some 500 people gathered the same day at the federal building in Portland, Ore., with protesters carrying signs and banners proclaiming "Stop the holocaust against the Palestinians," "Killing Children Is Not Self-defense" and "Free Palestine: One state solution."

As at other rallies, Palestinians, Muslims and Arab Americans turned out in large numbers. Activist Rima Ghandour said, "It was inspiring to so see so many young people from the Arab community participating and finding their voice." After the protest, a call was made to march on pro-Israel Sen. Ron Wyden's (D-Ore) office to demand a hearing. Failure to get one would bring a rain of old shoes on the senator and his office, the organizers promised.

Three hundred people turned out in the freezing cold in Toledo, Ohio, chanting "From Iraq to Palestine, Occupation is a Crime!"

Forty came out in Albany, N.Y. to the state capitol to hear speakers from several organizations, including one who brought solidarity greetings from Palestinian journalist Mohammed Omer, who is still recovering from his ordeal in Israeli captivity. A Palestinian refugee, who survived the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon in 1982, spoke of his experiences.

In Seattle, 200 people turned out on December 30 at the Federal Building. Student antiwar activists used the opportunity to publicize a rally and march of local progressive forces on January 20--Inauguration Day--to show Obama what kind of change we want to see.

As one of the demonstrators, Adnan, said, "I'll definitely be out for that. I was horrified that Obama would support Israel's massacre in Gaza. We're going to have to hold his feet to the fire by organizing and protesting."

In Atlanta, 300 protested on December 30. Two days before, an emergency protest of 100 was organized on 24 hours' notice by pro-Palestine student activists at Emory University and the University of Georgia. At the conclusion of the two-hour protest on December 30, an impromptu march began through the streets of midtown Atlanta. Plans are being circulated for another protest January 3 in front of the CNN building.
In Ithaca, N.Y. 30 people protested December 30 in solidarity with the people of Palestine--as well as two local community activists, Clare Grady and Ellen Grady, who were arrested the day before protesting in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C.

Fifty people protested in Burlington, Vt. In Baltimore, a crowd of 50 people gathered at the War Memorial Plaza near City Hall.
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THE IMMEDIATE flood of support for the Palestinian people--from longtime activists and organizations as people new to activism--reflected a new confidence to speak out. Activists are looking for ways to build more solidarity between different struggles, and antiwar activists in particular are linking the U.S. war on Iraq with Israel's war on the Palestinians.

Similarly, in many places, opponents of the Israeli war recognized that they must take anti-Arab and anti-Muslim head-on. At the University of California at Berkeley, for instance, antiwar and pro-Palestinian groups are taking a stand against anti-Arab hate crimes on their campus.
Activists are also making sure to bring their message to President-elect Barack Obama. In Washington, D.C., activists quickly organized a 200-strong demonstration near Obama's transition office. A favorite chant was "Hope for Gaza."

In Hawaii, where Obama and his family were on vacation in the fancy Oahu suburb of Kailu, a handful of protesters gathered nearby with placards that read "No U.S. support for Israel" and "Gazans need food and medicine, not war."

Obama has so far declined to make a statement on Israel's assault, while his staff reiterates the line that "there can only be one president at a time." But senior advisor David Axelrod appeared on CBS's Face the Nation the day after the attacks to affirm Obama's support for Israel's right to attack the Palestinians.

"The president-elect was in Sderot last July, in southern Israel, a town that's taken the brunt of the Hamas attacks," he said. "And he said then that, when bombs are raining down on your citizens, there is an urge to respond and act and try and put an end to that. So, you know, that's what he said then, and I think that's what he believes."

As Green Party presidential candidate and former Democratic member of Congress Cynthia McKinney told CNN, "As we are about to celebrate Martin Luther King's birthday, let's remember what he said. He said that the U.S. was the greatest purveyor of violence on the planet, and we experienced a little of that because the weapons that are being used by Israel are weapons being supplied by the U.S. government."

McKinney was on board the SS Dignity alongside members of the Free Gaza Movement who were attempting to bring desperately needed supplies to Gaza via the Mediterranean Sea, when the small boat was rammed three times by an Israeli naval gunboat. The Israeli government claimed it was an accident.

Protests against Israel's war will continue. In Chicago, for example, a Friday protest has been called by the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, which will bring together the city's mosques and Muslim organizations.

Activists are committed to standing with protesters around the world to oppose Israel's assault on Gaza, here in the country that supports and funds Israel's war crimes.

Jeff Bale, Patrick Dyer, Rick Greenblatt, Josh Karpoff, Tim Koch, Katie Miller, Rachael Moshman, Alex Read, Mer Reese, Gillian Russom, Nevin Sabet, Michael Schwartz and Kathryn Weber contributed to this article.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Protests against Israel's assault on Gaza have already taken place in cities around the country, with more planned for the coming days. Contact local organizers for details where you live.For updates on the current situation, plus commentary and analysis on the background to the war, read theElectronic Intifada Web site. Electronic Intifada Executive Director Ali Abunimah's "Gaza massacres must spur us to action" is a good starting point for further reading.You can also find updated coverage on conditions in Gaza and the efforts of activists to stand up to the Israeli war at the Free Gaza Web site.Between the Lines: Readings on Israel, the Palestinians and the U.S. "War on Terror," by Tikva Honig-Parnass and Toufic Haddad, documents the apartheid-like conditions that Palestinians live under today.For background on Israel's war and the Palestinian struggle for freedom, readThe Struggle for Palestine, a collection of essays edited by Lance Selfa on the history of the occupation and Palestinian resistance.