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'Gaza Hungers for Justice': Hundreds Demonstrate as Friends of IDF Hold Lavish Dinner in Manhattan
March 9, 2010
While the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were holding a $1,000 a plate fundraiser at the ritzy Waldorf Astoria hotel in Manhattan, hundreds of Palestine solidarity activists from a wide array of organizations took to the streets to protest Israeli war crimes, the blockade of Gaza, and the occupation of Palestine.
Dressed in black and carrying signs that read “Gaza Hungers for Justice,” and “Israeli War Criminals Feast at the Waldorf,” protesters circled the Waldorf Astoria in a somber, moving procession only punctuated by the sounds of drums and gongs. The demonstrators also held up signs highlighting the findings of the Goldstone report, which stated that Israeli forces bombed the Gaza Zoo, used white phosphorus against civilians in Gaza during "Operation Cast Lead," and killed innocent Palestinians.
The United Nations’ Goldstone report concluded that both Israel and Palestinian militants committed war crimes, though the majority of the report focused on Israel, which killed nearly 1,400 Palestinians, including over 300 children, in the 2008-2009 assault on Gaza.
The Goldstone report stated that the war on Gaza “was a deliberately disproportionate attack designed to punish, humiliate and terrorize a civilian population.” Other human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have accused Israel of committing war crimes as well.
The silent protest was called for by Jews Say No!, a Jewish anti-occupation group formed while the attack on Gaza was happening. The action was co-sponsored by over 20 activist groups, including Adalah-NY, American Jews for a Just Peace, Jewish Voice for Peace, and the National Lawyers Guild NY Chapter, and was endorsed by two Palestinian groups from the village of Bil’in and four Israeli groups.
“Our idea is to show the totally atrocious contradiction of having a $1,000 a plate dinner for people who a year ago killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians,” said Dorothy Zellner, a founding member of Jews Say No! “People who commit these kind of war crimes should not be celebrated and should not be welcome here in our city.”
Inside the Waldorf, the keynote speaker at the dinner, which was put together by the Friends of the IDF, a group that provides support and services to the Israeli army, was Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi. Ashkenazi, as the IDF Chief of General Staff, was responsible for the onslaught on Gaza, which, in addition to many civilian deaths, saw widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure.
Many lamented the fact that while Ashkenazi may be fearful of being arrested in European countries that adhere to the principle of universal jurisdiction, he is worry free about the United States.
“A terrorist, a war criminal, should not be dining in the streets of New York. He belongs in jail,” said Dima Abisaab, a Lebanese-American activist with Al-Awda New York: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, which organized a separate rally across the street from the Waldorf. At the Al-Awda-organized protest, the crowd chanted “Free, Free Palestine” and “Not Another Nickel, Not Another Dime, No More Money for Israel’s Crimes” and waved Palestinian flags.
Counter-demonstrators who strongly supported Israel were present, though their numbers were much smaller than those of the Palestine solidarity demonstrators.
The lavish dinner with Ashkenazi comes two days after activists marked the 1,000th day of the blockade of Gaza, which was imposed after the Islamist movement Hamas won democratic elections in 2006.
“The assault on Gaza is ongoing. It happened in the attack that was the largest manifestation of the Israeli brutality, but the siege is ongoing,” said Riham Barghouti, a founding member of Adalah-NY and a Palestinian-American. “We need a long-term kind of response to what Israel is doing in the form of boycott, divestment and sanctions, to really start holding Israel accountable and end this impunity it seems to have on the international level.”
Amer Shurrab, a Palestinian from the Gazan city of Khan Younis and a graduate of Middlebury College, participated in the silent protest.
“I’m here for my two brothers, who were shot at by the Israeli army over a year ago. They were shot at, left to bleed to death by the Israeli army and denied medical help,” he said. “I’m here for them, and I’m here for the over 1,400 innocent civilians who suffered the same fate and were subject to Israeli army war crimes.”
Comments
Wonder if these same idiots walked for the 500 Christians massacred by muslims in Nigeria TODAY! For 8 years hamas fired rockets at israeli civilians...what did they think israel was going to do? send them flowers?
these animals call for JIHAD every day, well, welcome to war! it sucks doesnt it? I thought it was an honor for these guys to die anyways? And please dont talk me about civilians...hamas fires at civilians on purpose, and then hides among their own civilians!
The people of gaza voted for a blood thirsty, satanic, terrorist group...u get what u vote for baby.
Chris, it's sad that you would belittle the suffering experienced by civilians in Gaza with a "too f---ing bad" attitude. Still, you are forgiven, and loved.
Chris, since you seem to be missing a great deal of factual information, allow me to educate you on a few things:
1. In 1948, Israel, which was founded on stolen Palestinian land, ethnically cleansed Palestinians and razed more than 450 villages.
2. In 1967, Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza.
3. Since 1967, Palestinians in the occupied territories have been living under martial law and a brutal military occupation.
Have the Christians in Nigeria been living under a military occupation for more than 40 years?
Where were you today, anyway? Let's not pretend that you care one diddly about those Christians. Did you march for them? Or are you just content with sitting at home all day assigning blame just so that he can feel good about himself?
Besides, what makes these marchers "idiots"? You care about Christians only? It's rather interesting that you neglected to mention that the "civilians" you mentioned in your post are Jewish. Are you a Jew who pretends that he cares about Christians just so that Christian Americans will join in on your Islamophobic hate fest? How come you don't have the courage to acknowledge that simple fact about yourself?
Next time you post here, think twice, because I will be educating you pretty often until you reach a basic level of understanding of the world around you.
@ Avi
wow. Big respect for the respond like that. Good Job
Everyone google up and search in youtube for:
Haj Amin aL Husseini
Thank you google guy. Looking up al-Husseini made me realise that all Palestinians (from little kids to paralysed men on wheelchairs with white flags on them) have to be erased from Eretz Yisrael. And here I was thinking that this conflict had to do with occupation, colonisation, forceful emigration and suppression of an entire peoples and stuff but hey! It's all because of this Amin character. He is an anti-Semite Nazi-collaborator and he is Palestinian, so all Palestinians are anti-Semite Nazi collaborators. Thanks so much again for opening up my eyes.
Schmuck.
Thanks Avi for your patient and gracious response to that Chris knucklehead..Gee, I wish I had such patience with similar hacks, but thanks..By the way I follow your comments on Mondoweiss enough to feel like I know you..
"Everyone google up and search in youtube for:
Haj Amin aL Husseini"
Google guy
----------------------------------------------
Every one google up and search in youtube for:
Rabbi Meir Kahane
Everyone google up and search in youtube for:
Baruch Goldstein
or Hebron settlers..The sharnutah sharmutah video..
But bee warned..keep a sick bag at hand's reach
Israel has violated international law with impunity for over 60 years. Israel refuses to adhere to the boundaries set by U.N. resolution 181 which declared Jerusalem an international city. Israel refuses to join the IAEA, sign a nuclear non-proliferation treaty and allow inspections of their nuclear facilities. Israel refuses to stop construction of illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. Israel has systematically murdered peace activists (Rachel Corrie) and journalists. Last year Israel arrested and illegally detained a former U.S. Congresswoman. These are all acts of a rogue country. All U.S. financial and military aid to Israel should cease. Israel must be isolated and made to account for their decades long violations of international law and numerous war crimes.
As fundamental as I think this issue is to our globe's future, there I was, NOT there. This is what happens in old age: you're trying to be everywhere to offer support and turn out to be nowhere. I hope that I can register my commitment to justice for Palestine from here despite my absence from there; but I was just across the East River ever working hard for justice to both Palestine and Israel in the form of two states, one economy, through an end to Israel’s insane lebensraum grando-mania, an end that will surely lead to its peaceful integration into the Arab world, advancing the region not only to peace and national sovereignty for all but also modernization with equal rights and education for all. Here Israel can be a sci/tech model and trusted advisor as some Israeli intellectuals are for some Palestinians of their technical levels. However, Israel must realize that it can't be the Germany of the Middle East bullying everyone because of its fears, fears consequent to the expansionist madness of some Zionists. Such warmongering bravado (totally depending on American rescue and armaments re-supply) caused most Diaspora Jews to deem Israel a nice place to visit but not to live. Now many are forced to hide their affection and hope for it because of its violation of the Jewish Ethic, as in Gaza. It's got to soon take chances because it can't continue to survive as the 62 y/o fetus, still not yet born as a self-reliant nation with a constitution and universal recognition depending on an engorged American placenta. It must risk becoming a member of the Semitic family again for together, the states of the Middle East, can do so much more than in their current psychotic conditions. Sanity is what I would march for; the rest then becomes inevitable, given the great minds born of that region. I am the lesser of two monozygotic twins and, had we not been born at seven months instead of the normal nine, I would have perished from inanition because my dominant twin would have starved me to death. I never resented him for it and am very glad we’re both doing well. I think there’s a lesson here for Israel in its relationship to its Arab relatives vis-a-vis the United States. Our current need for Arab oil—though ending in the not too distant future-- dominates any Holocaust guilt trip Zionists can lay on us to extract billions of dollars a year. It is time for Israel to be born, becoming an independent member of its region, sharing in the future rather than living on American welfare in a futureless womb.
Please allow me to at least issue my full support here in words since I failed to be there in person. Thank you.....See you next time
Thank you for your excellent reporting. Since the main stream media continues to go further to the right and ignore the terrible things done by the Israeli government, it is ever more important that there are media like yours. The only way to get the news!
So, no more money to Israel!
Time to stop calling the IDF anything but the Israeli occupying army.
Time to remind everyone of the endless violations by Israel of UN resolutions.
Time to keep the heat on about letting international observers into Gaza.
Time ti adopt the Goldstone report and begin to act on its findings.
Time for justice and peace in Palestine/Israel.
I dislike war, but I dislike more a potential partner/neighbor that wants to destroy you. Has anyone faulted HAMAS in this protest? ...or are they all puppets for the Palestinian marketing machine? I do think that Israel will lose much in defending herself, because there will always be sorry-saps that side with the defeated! (ie: HAMAS puts it citizens in harms way (babies too!, you jackels) and then screams that the agitated army was to blame. Give me a break! This is pure STINKO. Then there's AVI (above) that FORGETS that ISRAEL was provoked in The 1967 War, defeated the surrounding armies, took buffer zones....and guess what you don't shit back in a war!! Then there's the phrase, "ETHIC CLEANSING" ... good one. It might be now, but Israel has always offered citizenship the the Arabs (formally known as Palestinians, etc..). I like this quote even better- " The use of the term "Palestinian" for an Arab ethnic group is a modern political creation which has no basis in fact - and had never had any international or academic credibility before 1967.". Peace, a Peace loveing Jew, but a fighter at heart. What are you?!
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