Bay Area Emergency Protests of
Israeli Massacre of Gaza Aid Convoy
4:30 PM TUESDAY, JUNE 1st
456 MONTGOMERY ST.
SAN FRANCISCO
------------ --------- --------- -------
Future Actions:
Friday,June 4th 12 Noon
Interfaith Action
San Francisco City Hall
____________ _________ _
Saturday, June 5th 11am
Mass Mobilization
San Francisco, Civic Center
The murder by Israeli commandos of at least ten human rights activists attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza has increased tensions throughout the middle east and has been followed by protests throughout Europe and around the world.
The attacks, which took place in international waters, has weakened Israel's relationship with what has been its strongest Ally in the region, Turkey, as many of the dead are Turks. There are demonstrations throughout Turkey but especially in Istanbul. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, says the flotilla was carefully inspected before departure. He stated publicly: "I want to say to the world, to the heads of state and the governments, that these boats that left from Turkey and other countries were checked in a strict way under the framework of the rules of international navigation and were only loaded with humanitarian aid." "There was no one on board other than civilian volunteers" he said.
He said that the event was "inhuman state terror."
This puts the US and the Obama administration in a bit of a spot and the meeting between Obama and Benjamin Netenyahu was canceled. Netenyahu claims that the commandos were "defending themselves" after being attacked. But it would seem to me that people on the deck of a ship in international waters being boarded by armed commandos would have the right to defend themselves anyway. One Al Jazeera blogger points out:
"Marc Lynch, a professor at George Washington University - writing in his Foreign Policy blog - notes that the global outcry over the attack will force the Obama administration to react.":
"I'll just say that the bottom line for Washington is that the U.S. can not ignore this or try to hope that it will pass quickly so that it can resume business as usual. It is rapidly spiraling into one of the most intensely galvanizing issues in the Arab media -- and around the world -- since the Israeli war on Gaza itself. If Obama goes ahead and meets with Netanyahu as if nothing happened, then his administration's outreach to the Muslim communities of the world is effectively over."The blogger adds: "Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's foreign minister, says he spoke this afternoon with several of his counterparts, including EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle. The statement is quite mocking of the activists on the flotilla, referring to them as "human rights knights" - not a title they ever appropriated for themselves - and dismissing them as "terror-supporters and anarchists."
and
A group of Israeli activists affiliated with Hadash - the Jewish-Arab socialist party - is planning a rally tonight in front of the defence ministry building in Tel Aviv. "The violent takeover of the Flotilla expresses the government's lost path, pushing it to acts of madness, killing and political suicide," the group wrote in a Facebook announcement about the rally.
I have yet to hear and would like to hear loud condemnation from Jewish groups outside Israel. Unfortunately, so many Jewish organizations refuse to condemn vehemently the horrific treatment of Palestinians by the Zionist regime. It is clear to any observer that Israel is intent on the destruction of any Palestinian Arab culture and identity. The blockade of Gaza, perhaps the largest concentration camp on the planet, is one of the most barbarous crimes against humanity today and the fact that the US allows it, and Israel could not carry out its genocidal war on the Palestinian Arab community without US finds and weaponry, is more fodder for Islamic fundamentalism.
Israel is the elephant in the room when it comes to the Middle East, not Iran. Events like the storming of these vessels and the Gaza blockade increases anger hatred of Jews outside of Israel particularly in the Muslim world as the bias in the western world is so obvious. Acts of violence against Diaspora Jews will likely increase which many Jews mistakenly compare to historical European Anti-Semitism. The Zionists have no problem with this as it bolsters their argument that the only safe place for Jews is Israel and all Jews should emigrate to this colonial settler state. My knowledge of the mood among Jewish Israelis themselves is very limited but it will be interesting to see how things develop over the next few days.
1 comment:
The Zionist Elie Wiesel had what he termed a "good kosher lunch between friends" with President Obama and they talked about the killings.
"Wiesel survived the Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald." the press reported. What this has to do with Palestinians is anybody's guess. The Nazis' treatment of Jews has nothing to do with them. Palestinians get sick of hearing about what has become known as the Holocaust business. A good book to read about this is Finkelstein's The Holocaust Industry if you haven't read it.
Post a Comment