Jewish Groups Protest Israel’s Military Actions
New America Media, News Report, Elena Shore, Posted: Jul 18, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO – About 300 people demonstrated outside the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco Monday to demand an end to Israel’s military attacks on Gaza and Lebanon. Demonstrators said the rally reflects a growing trend among American Jews to voice their criticism of the policies of the Israeli government.
Seventeen protesters were arrested for blocking traffic when they locked arms and sat down in the street. The protest was organized by the groups Jewish Voice for Peace, Jews for a Free Palestine and Break the Silence.
Crowds gathered in front of the consulate, holding signs that read “U.S. Jews say: Stop all bombing of civilians” and “Break the cycle of violence – negotiate.” Some waved Palestinian flags. Demonstrators talked over the music of the local band BLO (Brass Liberation Orchestra).
Samantha Liapes, a member of Jews for a Free Palestine and one of the organizers of the demonstration, says that as the situation in the Middle East becomes more dire, an increasing number of American Jews are beginning to openly question Israel’s actions.
“Since the founding of Israel, there have been large numbers of Jews who have been critical of Israel’s policies,” said Liapes. “Many have chosen to be silent because of pro-Israel pressures and the mainstream conflation of being critical of Israel with being anti-Semitic.”
“Now the risk of a major regional conflict, a war, scares people,” adds Liapes. “They see that this could be prevented, that military action and violence is being used as a first resort.”
Israel launched air strikes on Lebanon in retaliation for the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah on the Lebanese border July 12. Israel was already engaged in a military offensive in the Gaza Strip launched after Palestinian militants captured a soldier on June 25. The United States and Israel claim that Iran and Syria are behind the Hezbollah attacks.
Heather Merriam of the East Bay chapter of Tikkun, a Jewish organization founded by progressive Rabbi Michael Lerner, joined the protest outside the consulate, saying, “We are both pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian.”
“We seek the middle path, which is really hard in this conflict,” said Merriam. “Both sides are to blame. It’s an endless cycle of violence. Israelis have a responsibility not to escalate the situation.”
“You could say Iran and Syria set a trap by kidnapping soldiers and Israel fell into the trap,” said Merriam. “The soldiers are being used by Israel just like the Palestinians are being used by the Arab world, to further their political cause,” she said.
Some say Israel’s military actions could lead to increased anti-Israel sentiments as more innocent people are killed.
“Israel doesn’t have a concern for Jews in its heart,” says Liapes. “If Israel was concerned with the safety of Israelis, they wouldn’t be using these tactics as a first resort. This is going to lead to the death of more innocents.”
In fact, it was Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982 that led to the creation of Hezbollah by a group of Lebanese Shi'ite Muslims.
Mitchell Plitnick, director of education and policy for Jewish Voice for Peace, one of the groups that organized the demonstration, pointed to the need for international involvement. “The U.S. should start playing the role of a responsible power, stop blocking the UN from setting up a ceasefire,” he said, referring to the Security Council resolution that the United States vetoed last week. “The United States will not do anything that interferes with Israel’s plight, and may want to see Israel smash Hamas and Hezbollah.”
Speaking before the crowd, Amir Terkel, a former Israeli soldier who served in the Israeli army from 1989 to 1992, said his experience in the military made him question Israel’s policies.
“Our policies are leading us to self-destruction,” said Terkel, who identified himself as one of 1,600 Israelis who refuses to serve in what he calls the “occupied territory.”
“We were given directives that had the sole purpose of perpetuating control over the Palestinian people,” he said. “We broke into people’s houses in the middle of the night, we were told they were suspects in something. Most never saw a judge, a lawyer or heard what they were charged with, and were held for months or years.”
“I’m here to support the release of hostages,” he said, and the use of “negotiating, not bombing.”
Palestinian activist Monadel Herzallah called on the crowd to, “Tell Israel, ‘You don’t speak for the people of the Jewish faith.’”
Across the street, a smaller crowd of counter-protesters waved Israeli flags and held signs that read, “Those who curse Israel are cursed by God,” and “Surrender is not the answer to Islamic fascism.”
Optometrist Stuart Mann, whose sign read, “Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace,” said this isn’t about Israel and Palestine; it is about the two terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah.
“I don’t think anyone here is not for a separate, independent Palestinian state. No one here wants war,” he said. “But Israel was attacked. And it is going after Hezbollah and Hamas targets, trying to be careful about who they attack. Israel’s got to defend itself.”
Another counter-protester, Anne Marx, who attended the demonstration with her husband and baby, added, “It’s important for people to know there are Jews that support Israel.”
Photos by Bill Carpenter, courtesy of the SF Bay Area Independent Media Center
Page
1 of 1
|
User Comments
CUVAIRD on Aug 19, 2006 at 11:14:21 said:
It is reported that Israel has now arrested the Hamas deputy Prime Minister, notwithstanding that they have no lawful authority to take him into custody. It appears to me that in fact this was an abduction i.e. the removal of a person by force or in other words, a kidnap. There has been a lot of this type of criminal activity in the Middle East recently.
Colin Dale on Aug 14, 2006 at 19:15:35 said:
So, the truth about the so-called ‘invincible’ Israeli Defence Force is now exposed for the world to see. It is only invincible against a rag-tag army without proper arms but when faced with a properly equipped and committed fighting force for the very first time in sixty years (albeit still without any tanks or aircraft), the Israeli army cuts and runs, complaining that someone must have supplied their opponents with weapons! If the one thousand civilian deaths were not so tragic, then the situation would be termed farcical.
dave markel on Aug 08, 2006 at 06:40:49 said:
Another day in the slaughterhouse of south lebanon and beirut as the jewish terrorists murder countless numbers of innocent civilians....the jews are employing the exact same tactics that they have always used in their repression and terrorization of the palestinians,, claim one legitimate target exists in proximity then murder 20, 30. 50, innocent civilians by dropping in a 500 lb bomb,,,, and then repeat ad infinitum,,,
now while this goes on,,, having completly obliterated all infrastructure and any possibly routes for civilian escape form these killing fields,,, deny humanitarian relief to theses same civilians,,, do not allow food or medicine to enter under threat of immediate death,, in essence starve and bleed the remaining populace to death,,, and claim that you are really not terrorists attacking civilian populations,, but rather you are ONLY acting in self defense,,, then watch as the united states helps you terroize and murder these women, children, and all innocent peoples,, through bombing and starvation, as the usa government supplies more and more bombs and bullets,, and winks at your tactics as legitimate as you terrorize and murder innocent people,,, the thing is not only does most of the rest of the civilized world see these crimes,,, but even red blooded americans like me see the crimes that isreal and the american government are committing.
but bullies continue to bully until one day they get what they deserve.
Forrest on Jul 27, 2006 at 07:19:20 said:
Rumour has it that the "terrorists" are planning to trigger a nuclear explosion by hitting one of Israel's many nuclear bombs...
But if this happens, then this will leave many people, jews, christians and muslims alike, without a place to live. Or without a life to live. Is this what everyone means when they cry out for peace in the middle east?
This is an important point Remember the baby in hte King Solomon story? If a "terrorist" is willing to do this- it would kill Israelis, Christians, Arabs, and make the land unfit for habitation. It would prove that this conflict isn't about creating a Palestinian Homeland- its about the destruction of Israel.
Nadim on Jul 25, 2006 at 07:38:05 said:
This protest is really encouraging, though I don't know the stats. Is this a growing movement? If so, hopefully it'll soon get to critical mass and make a difference.
Peace everywhere, N
Jeff Coleman on Jul 24, 2006 at 15:49:22 said:
Live in fear Israelis! The suicide bombers in your country are already strapping the explosives on their bodies.
You cannot expect to go unpunished for the totally indiscriminate attacks on your neighbour.
Shaun Knapp on Jul 24, 2006 at 06:31:31 said:
I find it interesting that Jews hating Jews is a reality. Some of the Elite who have hijacked the Israeli government are not freinds of Judaism, but hate it passionately.
There are interviews, 2 of them here of Barry Chamish, from Israel, crying out against the Israeli Government.
http://www.awakeandarise.org/Barbara.htm
Also, there is an interview of an Israeli Air Force Captain saying that if Israel is to survive, his own government must cease it's wicked policies.
Sheryl on Jul 23, 2006 at 06:36:53 said:
Matt: ch.5 ver.9
Happy are those who work for peace;
God will call them his children!
Zack Kahn on Jul 23, 2006 at 04:29:26 said:
We should all gather like sheep and be told what is good for us. Israel will destroy the holy land with its greed for power and the US will side with them, we are all doomed !!!!!!!!!
Nalim Fluffy on Jul 22, 2006 at 11:51:40 said:
“I’m here to support the release of hostages,” he said, and the use of “negotiating, not bombing.”
28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
Observer on Jul 22, 2006 at 09:35:44 said:
The only way for peace is at least Israel hand back Palestinian occupied territories, hand back the Golan hills to Syria, hand back East Jerusalem and stay pracefully on her borders as it was before 1967. But it never will happen, jews take things and they bnever will think to hand it back, they want more and more, even if for this purpose they wish to exterminate the people of Palestine that lived there during the time they have left to their exile and they were studying around the globe in prestigious universities and earning money from the non-jews. I Israel doesn\'t do this effort, she is only going to prove their own biblical prophecies: Armaggeddon, no Palestine for anybody, no Israel, no nothing in that area, just a big dusty atomic cloud above all. You know this, don\'t faint to be ignorant, we are going to see straight away this happening in a few time. Just pray if you believe in some god hahaha!
http://fromisraeltolebanon.com/index.html
antisatan on Jul 22, 2006 at 04:41:05 said:
Rumour has it that the "terrorists" are planning to trigger a nuclear explosion by hitting one of Israel's many nuclear bombs it has scattered across the (no longer) holy land. Of course, we all know Israel doesn't have any nuclear weapons, so it should not prove to be a problem.
But what if they do target and hit a nuclear warhead? The "terrorists" are only defending their homeland, and they have every right to do so, as does Israel. But if this happens, then this will leave many people, jews, christians and muslims alike, without a place to live. Or without a life to live. Is this what everyone means when they cry out for peace in the middle east?
pearl on Jul 22, 2006 at 04:13:42 said:
Isaiah 14:1 "For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet
choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall
be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob."
History:
'The devastation caused by the failed revolt surely sent some Palestinian
Jews to join their cousins in Babylonia, or around the Mediterranean.
But there was no massive exile, as there was at the time of the destruction
of the First Temple. Sixty-five years later, when the Bar Kochba revolt
failed (135 CE), the Romans expelled the Jews from Judea. But these
expelled Jews settled in other parts of Palestine.
During the third century CE, economic troubles in the Roman Empire
seem to have induced many Jews to leave Roman-ruled Palestine for
the more prosperous Babylonia (which was part of the territory of the
other "superpower" of the time, Sassanid Persia). Yet, down to the
end of the rabbinic period, Palestine continued to be a major center
of Jewish life and thought. In the early seventh century CE, on the eve
of the Arab conquest, there were still enough Jews in Palestine to be an
important military factor in the territorial struggles between the Romans
and the Persians.
(What happened to these Palestinian Jews? It's anybody's guess. But
my own guess is that they gradually converted to Islam under the
pressure of the Arab rulers of Palestine, and that they are the ancestors
of the people we now call "Palestinian Arabs.")
..'
http://www.pathsinjudaism.com/judaism/syllabus/rabbinic.htm
Scientific research:
'Previous investigations based on binary Y chromosome polymorphisms
suggested a common origin for Jewish and non-Jewish populations living
in the Middle East (Santachiara-Benerecetti et al. 1993; Hammer et al.
2000). Our recent study of high-resolution microsatellite haplotypes
demonstrated that a substantial portion of Y chromosomes of Jews (70%)
and of Palestinian Muslim Arabs (82%) belonged to the same chromosome
pool (Nebel et al. 2000). Of those Palestinian chromosomes, approximately
one-third formed a group of very closely related haplotypes that were only
rarely found in Jews. Altogether, the findings indicated a remarkable degree
of genetic continuity in both Jews and Arabs, despite their long separation
and the wide geographic dispersal of Jews.
..
We propose that the Y chromosomes in Palestinian Arabs and Bedouin
represent, to a large extent, early lineages derived from the Neolithic
inhabitants of the area and additional lineages from more-recent population
movements. The early lineages are part of the common chromosome pool
shared with Jews (Nebel et al. 2000). According to our working model,
the more-recent migrations were mostly from the Arabian Peninsula, as is
seen in the Arab-specific Eu 10 chromosomes that include the modal
haplotypes observed in Palestinians and Bedouin. These haplotypes and
their one-step microsatellite neighbors constitute a substantial portion of
the total Palestinian (29%) and Bedouin (37.5%) Y chromosome pools
and were not found in any of the non-Arab populations in the present study.
The peripheral position of the modal haplotypes, with few links in the
network (fig. 5), suggests that the Arab-specific chromosomes are a result
of recent gene flow. Historical records describe tribal migrations from Arabia
to the southern Levant in the Byzantine period, migrations that reached their
climax with the Muslim conquest 633-640 A.D.; Patrich 1995). Indeed,
Arab-specific haplotypes have been observed at significant frequencies in
Muslim Arabs from Sena (56%) and the Hadramaut (16%) in the Yemen
(Thomas et al. 2000). Thus, although Y chromosome data of Arabian
populations are limited, it seems very likely that populations from the
Arabian Peninsula were the source of these chromosomes. ..'
....'
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/AJHG/journal/issues/v69n5/013033/013033.html
'God said,'I will establish my covenant between Me and thee and thy SEED
after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto
thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed
after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an
everlasting possession; and I will be their God' (Genesis 17:7-8).
Tia Alfaro on Jul 20, 2006 at 06:21:39 said:
I was at the rally, also. The words of moderation from Jewish Voice for Peace were drowned out by the chants of another group of protestors. "From the River to the sea, Palestine will be free", they screamed. "We support Hezzbolah" , they responded to a group of high school students across the street, singing "Why can't we be friends"? These jihadis (I don't know what else to call them) held Palestininian flags emblazened with the emblem of a fist dripping blood.
If Jewish Voice for Peace wants to win the hearts and minds of Bay area Jews, they need to choose their friends more carefully.
John Dente on Jul 20, 2006 at 01:10:37 said:
The Israeli and American actions in The Middle East have destroyed the traditions of both countries.In the United States the Bill of Rights has indeed become "just a piece of paper.", while the traditional Jewish voices for justice and intellectual inquiry have been silenced.When professors of law distort the sanctity of law to justify torture and genocide, the law means nothing any longer.Thus the Jewsih scholars who promoted strict intellectual standards, free inquiry,and the sanctity of law have all been rejected, to be replaced by distortions,and disrespect for the law, for justice, and for the dignity of human life.Centuries of tradition and cultural values have been wiped out.In the end more is lost that can ever be gained.
A. Magnus on Jul 20, 2006 at 00:21:05 said:
The pro-Israelis who talk about G-d cursing those who curse Israel forget one important thing from Deuteronomy: G-d only gave the land to Israel on condition that they follow his laws and commandments. G-d also stated that Israel itself would be cursed if it failed to follow his laws. Just look at the 10 commandments and ask yourself if the secular socialist state of Israel is following ANY of G-d's laws.
Eugene Higgins on Jul 19, 2006 at 22:32:34 said:
I am not Jewish nor Arab. I do believe Israel has every right to defend itself against terrorist attacks. But I also believe Israel's present response to Hezobollah in Lebanon is not proportionate. It is looking to much like Israel is engaging in collective punishment for the whole of Lebanon because of Hezobollah. What is the purpose of attacking bridges and power stations or fleeing refugees as has been sighted?
And it is looking more like Israels vengence is because of the embarassing kidnap of it's soldiers, more than Hezobollah rocket firings which in reality had been going on for years with out a massive outright response. So Israel now kills hundreds of innocents for the kidnap of a couple of soldiers and also rip apart a small nation? this can not be right. No more as it is right for Hezobollah to fire rockets on Israel. I'm affraid this will only backfire on Israel in the end. Further the boiling hatreds and resentments of Jew and Arab. And contiune to push peace ever further away from what is more and more looking like a damnable region looking cursed to all who become involved in it. Even those who try to work for peace.
Colin Dale on Jul 19, 2006 at 15:36:56 said:
Ehud Olmert - War Criminal?
The Israeli army has now killed over 300 civilians (men, women and children) by deliberately violating international conventions intended to protect civilian populations and there is now a prima facie case for indicting Ehud Olmert, Israel’s prime minister, for war crimes. A war crime is a punishable offence under international law and as the individual issuing the orders Olmert must be held responsible and brought before the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
The Fourth Geneva Convention, prohibits "collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism ..." (Article 33). According to Article 147 of the Convention, "extensive destruction ... not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly," hostage-taking and "torture or inhuman treatment" are grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and constitute war crimes. All state parties to the Convention are required to search for and ensure the prosecution of perpetrators of grave breaches of the said Convention.
Daniel Mizzi on Jul 19, 2006 at 07:26:10 said:
I totally disagree with Israel's actions !!! Yeah right Israel cares about a few Jewish prisoners... What about the 10,000 polital prisoners (some children) in Israeli jails. What about the attacks in the previous weeks which killed 50 Palestinians and the innocent people who were killed while on the beach. Funny how that was not mentioned !!! Why is Israel also attacking Christian neighborhoods in Lebanon(Hezbollah free) as well ??? Answer: To get rid of Lebanon's economic strength/competiveness with Israel. I don't think Israel will triumph in this conflict because there is always payback from God. God willing this conflict will end soon !!!
-->