Thousands rally in Tel Aviv

[Fireweed247]

"We came to condemn in the strongest possible way what is being done in Gaza," said Ramat Gan man Latif Sadri, who protested against the offensive. "The killing of innocent people and imposing a financial siege will not bring about an end to the rocket fire," he said, referring to the Palestinian rockets being fired into southern Israel over the last eight years....

The Chairman of the Balad Party, MK Jamal Zahalka, said at the rally that there is a need to "try Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi in an international war crimes tribunal for their role in the killing of civilians in the Gaza Strip."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1052326.html



Amid cries of "Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies!" and banners reading, "Enough!" thousands of Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday night to protest against the country's war on Gaza.

Protesters called for an immediate end to the Israeli attacks, in which more than 450 Palestinians have been killed and around 2,100 injured since air assaults on Gaza began last Saturday...


"It is a cynical war, for political reasons and people are very much aware of that."
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/200913202712466579.html

[Mari333]

1. right on. nt

[Hope And Change]

2. K & R!

[EFerrari]

3. Good! Shut it down.

[malaise]

4. Lovely post

Until we all take the streets and have these war criminals locked up in The Hague, people on our planet will not live in peace.

This gives me hope. I hope CNN gets a clip but I'm not holding my breath. The views of ordinary citizens don't count these days.

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. Encouraging to see this

Thanks

[scarletwoman]

6. That banner says it all. You can't defeat terrorism by inflicting MORE terrorism. (nt)

[Karenina]

10. . .

[liberalhistorian]

46. So true. And they've just

created a whole new generation of "terrorists" now. It's pretty sad when I have to advise my teenage son to look to BBC and other foreign media for REAL reporting and analysis, instead of our own country's horribly biased coverage.

[subsuelo]

50. Chomsky says it best

"The best way to reduce terrorism is to stop engaging in it"

[EFerrari]

7. You can submit a comment w/out registration, fyi. n/t

[Swamp Rat]

8. k&r

[sixmile]

9. Blessed are the peacemakers

Unfortunately leaders tend to not listen unless their power is threatened.

[tekisui]

23. Seconded.

[TahitiNut]

11. May God bless them!

:applause: The true spirit of Shalom.

[bread_and_roses]

48. Yes (n/t)

[WillyT]

12. Bravo !!! - K & R !!!

:applause::yourock::applause:

:grouphug:

[stillcool]

13. I'm usually pretty numb..

about what happens there. This time I feel just like I did when 'shock and awe' went down, and when New Orleans was drowning. Those poor people. Bombs going off in Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Iraq..and I'm sure soon to be Syria and Iran. And for what? Supremacy and land. There ought to be a law. Meanwhile the world watches, as people die.

[Sensitivity]

14. Sad that more in Israel recognize war crime when the see it than in U.S. that just pays the bill

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

15. "My country, right or wrong" doesn't sell in Israel either. K&R

[annabanana]

16. These voices MUST be reflected in our media! Americans are not

getting the whole story.

BIG rec & kick

[WillyT]

19. Exactly !!!

:kick:

[Roy]

65. Of course not they don't visit the I/P forums.

Even if they found it. Informative threads would be locked before they get any info.

[leftstreet]

17. K&R

[Sensitivity]

18. So sorry for these brave Israelis for their gov seems to be bring a curse upon them with

the relentless killing of innocents.

[Statistical]

20. Tel Aviv = 86 km from Gaza Strip (46km further than longest reaching rockets)

Wonder how many demonstrations of "thousands" in a country of 7.3 million are happening in Ashdod, Ashqelon, Sderot or the rest of western Negev?

[WillyT]

21. Wow... You Could Have Worked For Rumsfeld In The Pentagon !!!

Or Nixon in the White House.

No way these protesters have ANY IDEA what they are talking about. RIGHT??? :sarcasm:

BTW - Since it motivates you so... just what skin do YOU have in the game?

:shrug:

[iconicgnom]

27. I might be wrong, but I think you missed the point. n/t

[backscatter712]

66. Hamas militants can be located in the area around Gaza and east, west, south and north somewhat.

Obviously, it's time to expand the offensive... (do I have to include the :sarcasm:?)

[Still Sensible]

22. Good for Them

Their protest is as much about the overkill as it is the retaliatory action. Everyone knows that Israel responses are disproportional, but this one is so far beyond simply a powerful retaliation. If they don't either get control or work themselves into a cease fire in about 72 hours, they will see an erosion of world and US opinion.

[roamer65]

24. A glimmer of hope in a war-ridden world.

[Number23]

25. Good.For.Them.

I refuse to give up hope... I absolutely refuse...

[rucky]

26. Wow.

This is different.

Different is good.

[Ken Burch]

28. This was a courageous act.

Perhaps this will be the beginning of the turning of the tide. Perhaps the Likud Party won't get its mandate for permanent war after all. We can always hope.

"Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart."
-Anne Frank

[Still Sensible]

29. What is Israel thinking? It's election time!

A rational point of view quoted at the Dish:

"Israel should arbitrarily declare victory and get the hell out of Gaza. Hamas will claim victory too. But it was always going to claim victory, and every hour Israel is in Gaza pummeling them without destroying them is an hour that Hamas will be able to claim that more plausibly, just like Hezbollah did in 2006. That's how these types of asymmetric wars work; and also why it's better for the larger party not to launch them."

Here is the whole post... http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/01/what-are-the-is.html#more

Of course, what they are thinking about is next months elections.

[lutherj]

30. It's important to remember that there is a liberal minority opposition in Israel

just as we were in the minority for years during the Iraq invasion. The people of Israel are not our enemy, but rather the policies of their conservative government.

[harmonicon]

32. that about sums it up

I have a number of Israeli friends, and I would hope that most people wouldn't assume that they're racist murderers because of their nationality. People have no choice of what country they're born into.

[kentuck]

31. But they can't handle the truth...

The truth being that Olmert and George W Bush have been planning this since the people democratically elected the Hamas to lead their nation. Yes, it was a democratic election but Bush and Olmert did not like the way it turned out. They had their own favorite they wanted to lead the Palestinian people. How dare the people choose who they wanted?

And they have been conspiring together since that time and probably have it all on tape. If the Mossad doesn't have it, I'm sure someone else might? The truth be known, they are working hand in hand in this operation into Gaza. It may be pure speculation but I would put my money on the two of them planning the invasion into Gaza, because Iraq worked so well.

Just as it was reported yesterday or the day before, Israelis admitted that the attacks upon Israel by the Hamas were "exaggerated". But, they work real well together, Olmert and Bush. You want to bet Bush is not advising? When he goes into hiding, as he has for the last week or so, he is up to no good.

It's good to see that, at least, there are some folks in Israel with some sanity left. That's much more than can be said for a lot of places...To think this war is fought for political reasons is a war crime. They should be tried in front of the Hague - the lot of them.

[Name removed]

33. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[lostnotforgotten]

34. The Israeli People Can Protest But DUers Can't - How Strange

eom

[cali]

38. what a stupid lie.

there's plenty of protest about the Israeli massacre in Gaza, on DU. And yes, it's allowed. What isn't allowed are flamefests. The admin here has opened up the dialogue beyond the I/P forum to a significant degree- and that causes a huge amount of work for the mods. The lie that DU doesn't allow dialogue on this issue, is more than a little threadbare.

[lostnotforgotten]

43. No Thanks To You Cali - Seems We Were Having This Argument Last Week And Here You Are Accusing Me

Of Lying.

Seem like Deja Vu to me.

[liberalhistorian]

45. Ah yes, The Queen

has spoken, therefore it must be true. :eyes:

[cali]

39. what a stupid lie.

there's plenty of protest about the Israeli massacre in Gaza, on DU. And yes, it's allowed. What isn't allowed are flamefests. The admin here has opened up the dialogue beyond the I/P forum to a significant degree- and that causes a huge amount of work for the mods. The lie that DU doesn't allow dialogue on this issue, is more than a little threadbare.

[StudsT]

40. strange isn't it?

and so it goes...

StudsT

[Behind the Aegis]

41. Might be strange if it were true, but seeing how it isn't.

Well,...so it goes...

[lostnotforgotten]

44. No Aegis - Last Week It Was True - Don't Misrepresent Facts!

It does not suit you well.

[cayuga]

80. It's all about the advertisers.

Follow the money

[Raksha]

35. So now the Israelis have their very own Iraq war on their hands

and they know it. And they are not happy campers.

Re "try Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi in an international war crimes tribunal for their role in the killing of civilians in the Gaza Strip."

Good plan. They can keep Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice et al. company at the Hague. And may they all have a LOOOONG time to compare notes.

[dhill926]

36. word.....n/t

[Name removed]

37. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[mod mom]

42. Enough! is correct.

[anitar1]

47. K&R

[Bjorn Against]

49. Good for them, and it is very important to see this.

We can oppose the actions of the Israeli government and still recognize that there are many Israelis who are extremely good people and their government doesn't represent them any more than Bush represents us. We need to side with those both in Israel and Palestine who want peace, and oppose all those who want more killing.

[AzDar]

51. K & R ...

:kick:

[snappyturtle]

52. Unfortunately, the Israeli and U.S. governments seem not to be listening...

again. K&R

[bertman]

53. Bless these COURAGEOUS souls!!

[lostnotforgotten]

54. K&R For Exposure Of the Truth

eom

[greguganus]

55. Good thing Hamas rockets can't reach Tel Aviv yet. They would of bombed the protesters. n/t

[Eyerish]

56. K&R n/t

[Fireweed247]

57. please click on the links

so we can get this to the front page of google and yahoo.

[backscatter712]

58. Of course, the apologists will declare all of them to be anti-semitic.

Why anything that opposes Israel's jingoistic Manifest Destiny is anti-semitic! :eyes:

GO PROTESTERS!!! BRING SOME SANITY AND PEACE TO ISRAEL!!!

[Politicalboi]

59. Good Luck

It didn't do any good when they rallied against the US going into Iraq. The US and Israeli governments should be held for war crimes.

[nradisic]

60. Very Cool!

Good for them. Way to fight the violence.

[maryf]

61. K&R big time, nt

[Grinchie]

62. Three Billion Dollars a year from the U.S. Pays for mighty fine spin

When it comes to Israeli justification for these atrocities.

I will work no more, and pay no more taxes to our Corporate driven War Machine until we have a means of directing our personal Tax dollars into specific programs.

At this point, I'm calling an embargo of paying taxes until the U.S. Stops financing proxy armies while neglecting its own popoulation.

Since the Senate, Congress and Administration seem to be barreling down the same path of the last 50 years, it's time to take matters into my own hands and do what little that I can. When America goes bankrupt when they can no longer feed these hungry pigs, then maybe there will be some change, if the Hungry pigs don't break out and devour those who once fed them.

Enough!

[JackRiddler]

63. Kick for the right of Israelis to defend themselves against their criminal government

[ShadesOfGrey]

64. Great to see this. Thank you protesters! k&r

[WhiteTara]

67. my heart is with these people

Peace for Palestine!

[harun]

68. Bless these people.

[Joe Chi Minh]

69. Israeli leaders should asked one very simple question again and again:

How much physical oppression can any people be expected to endure, before they conclude that a real threat of death in defiance of it, is preferable to passive acceptance of it. Don't let them change the subject. Keep repeating it, for as long as they domineer the Palestinians with such merciless ruthless cruelty. They should be allowed their own sovereign state.

I don't think it is an Israeli security problem. It seems to me to be the routine "entrepreneurialism" of the Israeli-US military-industrial complex. They can't take on the big guys like Russia and China, so, like the predators of the animal kingdom, they concentrate on the weakened and the afflicted.

[Ken Burch]

76. There's a term for the concept that underlies the question in your first sentence: "Psychic freeing"

The people of Gaza are very close to reaching the point where they don't fear death as much as they hate the status quo.

Hamas has been given a comeback by this war, when without it it would have died. It's hard to avoid coming to the conclusion that this is precisely what the most hawkish forces in the Israeli government wanted.

If the Israeli government had been serious about stopping the rockets, it would have negotiated directly with Hamas by now.

[Still Sensible]

70. A pretty good analysis by John Berry at Newsweek...

Excerpt

"Yet neither side has really committed itself to the painful compromises that a negotiated outcome would entail. Accords, interim settlements, intermediate steps—of these there has been no shortage. What all have in common is that the difficult issues are postponed to some future Age of Aquarius. The status of Jerusalem, the right of Palestinian return, Israel's withdrawal from the lands won in 1967: on none of these has there ever been any evidence that either side is prepared to meet the other's core political needs. Nor is there any reasonable hope that, even if Israeli or Palestinian leaders could steel themselves to make a deal, they could sell the compromises to their followers. The "two-state solution" pressed so fruitlessly by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is arguably merely the latest delusion. Any plausible blueprint for West Bank withdrawal would require Israel to forcibly evacuate tens of thousands of settlers who are armed, determined to stay and have powerful allies in Israel and in the United States. The likely outcome would be something close to civil war in Israel. Some Israeli defense officials even wonder, privately, whether the Israeli Army might sunder. And to what end? Hamas would remain committed to the destruction of Israel; and any attempt by, say, the Fatah leadership to impose settlement terms would entail something close to civil war among the Palestinians, too."


http://www.newsweek.com/id/177064

[mahina]

71. K & R. No more 2004.

This is a parallel to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. March invasion, November election. Remember how cowed some Dems were?

I hope we've learned something. Aloha to ALL children, all innocents, all people.

[DissedByBush]

72. Political reasons

I agree. We know there are hardliners running Israel right now.

But I wonder what things would be like now if the Palestinians hadn't elected the hardline terrorist group Hamas to be their government instead of keeping the pragmatist Mahmoud Abbas. They were actually making some peaceful progress under Abbas, but they didn't want that. They chose to side with the "Destroy Israel" crowd.

[Shardik]

73. Another K&R n/t

[Sultana]

74. May God bless them

Courageous act a/g a blood thirsty government.

[methinks2]

75. Bravo, the Peace movement is strong

In Israel! It takes a lot of courage to stand in the face of government and protest.
Blessed are the Peacemakers!

"We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children." Jimmy Carter

"When good does evil in its struggle against evil, it becomes indistinguishable from its enemy." T.S. Elliot

[arikara]

77. Bless them...

...they are the ones who bring hope.

[1percenter]

78. Pretty well-attended rally in Albuquerque

Saw on the news that there was a good size rally against the Israeli aggression, today in Albuquerque near the university.
This aggression seems to be striking a nerve all over the place.

[G_j]

79. KICK