[Onthebarricades] Palestine protests, international, Apr-Aug 2008

[Andy]

ON THE BARRICADES:  Global Resistance Roundup, April-August 2008
https://lists.resist.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/onthebarricades
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/globalresistance/

*  ITALY:  Thousands protest Israeli focus at bookfair
*  Academics protest restrictions on Palestinian students
*  IRAN:  Protest against official for Israel comment
*  UK:  Free Palestine protest in London
*  UAE:  Protests target Israeli-linked jeweller
*  US:  Protesters target Caterpillar meeting
*  IRELAND:  Amnesty protest Israeli detentions
*  LEBANON:  Protest at Egyptian embassy over Gaza siege
*  LEBANON:  Palestinians protest exclusion
*  Nakba protests in Jordan, Iran, Pakistan, Tel Aviv
*  Protest over death of Bedouin

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2008/05/10/turin-fair-protest.html

Thousands protest Israeli focus at Turin book fair
Last Updated: Saturday, May 10, 2008 | 4:15 PM ET
CBC News
Italian police officers wearing blue helmets look on during a demonstration 
described by organizers as pro-Palestinian, outside the Lingotto building, 
venue of the Turin book fair, in Turin, northern Italy on Saturday. (Alberto 
Pellaschiar/Associated Press)
About 4,000 people filled the streets of Turin, Italy, on Saturday to 
protest against the Turin Book fair's celebration of Israeli writers.
With a banner reading: "Boycott Israel, support Palestine," protestors 
walked through the streets towards the old factory building, which is 
hosting the prestigious booksellers' exhibition, due to end on Monday.
About 1,000 police were on hand to contain the crowd as demonstrators 
denounced the "continuing terror and daily raids which have, these last few 
years, killed 5,050 Palestinians and destroyed 32,000 houses."
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the creation of Israel. Israeli 
authors featured at the fair include Abraham B. Yehoshua, David Grossman, 
Amos Oz, Aaron Appelfeld and Meir Shalev.
When asked by an Italian newspaper this week whether he represented Israel, 
Applefeld replied: "I cannot represent a state, I can only represent my 
thoughts."
No Palestinian writers invited
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano inaugurated the fair on Thursday by 
saying: "No dialogue is possible if there is a refusal to recognize Israel."
However, the 1997 Nobel Prize winner for literature, Italian playwright and 
director Dario Fo, supports the protest and criticized organizers for not 
having invited Palestinian authors.
Fo says that instead of reading from his new book, The Apocalypse Postponed, 
he plans to use his appearance at the fair to talk about the Palestinian 
cause.
"Many have chosen to forfeit the fair, but I think it is necessary to attend 
and to raise a taboo theme: Palestine," Fo told the newspaper Corriere della 
Sera on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old fair, the second-largest in Europe with more than 300,000 
visitors last year, features traders, writers and more than 1,400 publishers 
from all over the world.
The Paris book fair in March, which also highlighted Israeli literature, 
drew similar protests.

http://africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnL9300082.html

Israeli academics protest curbs on WBank students
Tue 29 Jul 2008, 14:25 GMT

By Allyn Fisher-Ilan
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A group of Israeli academics protested on Tuesday 
against military restrictions that bar many Palestinians living in occupied 
territory from attending universities in Israel.
In a letter to Israel's high court, five professors said the restrictions 
amounted to a violation of academic freedom, and also made them more 
vulnerable to campaigns to boycott Israeli academics in Europe and 
elsewhere.
Israel's court has been weighing the issue since 2006, in a case that has 
tested Israel's sweeping restrictions on Palestinian travel both inside the 
occupied West Bank and from the territory into Israel.
Israel has generally barred Palestinian entry since violence erupted in 
September 2000 after failed peace talks, citing security reasons, such as 
keeping out suicide bombers.
After Hamas's election victory in January 2006, the rules were tightened and 
even the few Palestinians who seek to study at Israeli universities have 
been routinely denied permits.
The Israeli Defence Ministry has told the court it would permit Palestinians 
to attend Israeli universities only if it could limit the number of 
applicants and retain the right to decide who could apply and for which 
fields of study.
Its five-page response in March also said Palestinians could not be allowed 
to study subjects "that could potentially be used against Israel".
University heads have criticised the ministry's proposals as an infringement 
on academic freedom. Some joined the protest on Tuesday in an apparent bid 
to hasten a ruling on the case.
"I am ashamed that people being paid with my tax money have come up with 
this policy," Tsevi Mazeh, a physics professor at Tel Aviv University, one 
of the signatories, told Reuters.
Mazeh said he feared the restrictions could lead to further calls to boycott 
Israeli academics abroad over Israel's tough policies towards Palestinians 
in occupied territory.
He contested the ministry's proposed quota for Palestinian students, saying 
Israel should not adopt policies resembling the discrimination once suffered 
by Jews in other countries.
"I wonder how the hand of whoever wrote this proposal didn't shake. It's 
unbelievable and stupid and I'm ashamed. I hope the court sends them back to 
do their homework," Mazeh said.
The Israeli military has obeyed an initial court ruling issued in October 
2006 to permit a West Bank woman to study for a doctorate in Israel. She is 
one of a handful of Palestinians to receive such a permit.

http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=1.0.2410961580

Iran: Protest against Ahmadinejad confidant for Israel comment
Tehran, 12 August (AKI) - A volunteer paramilitary force known as the 
'Basij' will protest in Iran on Wednesday demanding the removal of a 
government official who has said that Iranians are the "friends" of Israelis 
and Americans.

Student groups close to the government are asking for the immediate 
dismissal of Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, vice-president of tourism, who in the 
past month has repeatedly mentioned Israelis and Americans as friends of 
Iranians.

On Tuesday, he once again repeated the controversial statements, adding that 
he did not want to modify anything that he said.

"I am proud about what I said and I am willing to repeat a thousand more 
times that we are friends of all the people in the world, including 
Americans and Israelis," said Mashaie.

On Monday, the president of the Majlis or Parliament and former nuclear 
negotiator Ali Larijani criticised Mashaie saying that "inhabitants of the 
occupied territories that refuse to define themselves as Palestinian cannot 
be our friends."

The protest will take place in front of the offices of the Cultural 
Heritage, Handcrafts and Tourism Organisation, a government-funded 
educational and research institution that co-ordinates museums throughout 
Iran. Mashaie is the current director of the organisation.

The Basiji are a volunteer group linked to the Pasdaran or Revolutionary 
Guards of Iran.

Mashaie is a close confidant of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and 
the father in law of Ahmadinejad's son.

http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_26721.shtml

London protest calls for Free Palestine
By Palestine Solidarity Campaign
May 14, 2008, 21:14

Thousands marched through London, sixty years after the Palestinian Nakba, 
to demand an end to the siege on Gaza, an end to Israeli occupation, and for 
the right of return of refugees.

The demonstration, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, British 
Muslim Initiative and the Palestinian Forum in Britain, was supported by 
trade unions UNISON, Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), Unite the 
Union, Communication Workers Union, GMB, TSSA, RMT, Fire Brigades Union, and 
the National Union of Miners, who joined organisations such as the 
Association of Palestinian Community UK, Amos Trust, Friends of Al Aqsa UK, 
Palestinian Return Centre, War on Want, Jewish Socialist Group, Pax Christi, 
Stop the War Coalition, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Britain Palestine 
Twinning Network, ICAHDUK, Friends of Lebanon, Federation of Student Islamic 
Societies, and Midlands Palestinian Community Association.

Dr Mustafa Barghouti, elected Palestinian Legislative Council member, told 
the rally of the situation of Apartheid existing in Israel and the Occupied 
Palestinian Territories: "Israeli citizens make 30 times what Palestinians 
do, settlers take 48 times the water of Palestinians, Palestinians are 
denied entry to Jerusalem..." He said that the 'peace process' of Annapolis 
was an illusion: "Since then Israeli attacks have tripled and even more 
checkpoints have been set up." He stressed the importance of re-establishing 
Palestinian unity and accused western governments of hypocrisy, in 
undermining democracy in Palestine, but supporting an Apartheid state.

Speakers also included Richard Burden MP, chair of the All-Party 
Parliamentary Group on Palestine, who reminded people of the ongoing plight 
of the refugees from 1948, especially those in Gaza: "Gaza is dotted with 
masses of cesspits of raw sewage, as deadly as any bomb or missile." Like 
many speakers, he called for the lifting of the siege of Gaza and withdrawal 
from all the Occupied Territories: "The peace process cannot work while 
people are imprisoned in their own land." Both he and Caroline Lucas 
stressed Israel cannot continue to enjoy a privileged trading relationship 
with Europe while it persists in violating international law.

Referring to the founding of Israel, Tony Benn said: "Nothing that happened 
in the WWII can justify Israel's seizure of Palestinian land." He found room 
some optimism: "Wherever you go you find people understand increasingly what 
is happening to the Palestinian people. There will never be peace in the 
Middle East till the Palestinians are treated decently."

Manuel Hassassian, the General Delegate to the UK said: "Our problem is not 
a humanitarian problem, it is a political problem, which must have a 
political solution." He also said: "The right of return is a sacred right 
for the Palestinians. Jerusalem is our capital, and we will never compromise 
on Jerusalem."

Respect MP George Galloway reminded the crowd of Britain's historic 
responsibility for the tragedy inflicted on the Palestinian people, from the 
time of Balfour onwards, and remembered the "thousands upon thousands of 
martyrs" created over decades; he also demanded the release of Marwan 
Barghouti and other political prisoners, and declared: "If there is no 
justice in Palestine there can be no peace in Palestine, and peace in 
Palestine is the key to peace throughout the Middle East."

http://www.thenational.ae/article/20080712/FOREIGN/791961566/1135

Protesters target Israeli jeweller
Sharmila Devi, Foreign Correspondent
Last Updated: July 12. 2008 9:03PM UAE / July 12. 2008 5:03PM GMT

View of the Levant Jewellery store at Mina Al Salam hotel in Dubai, which 
sells Leviev's jewellery. Pawan Singh / The National
NEW YORK // Human rights protesters took to the streets in New York last 
week to continue their campaign against an Israeli billionaire who is 
suspected of building settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Adalah-NY, a Jewish-Palestinian umbrella group of activists, vowed to 
maintain pressure on Lev Leviev, a real estate and diamond mogul who is one 
of the richest men in Israel, over his suspected activities in the West Bank 
and to prevent him from opening more Leviev diamond jewellery stores in 
Dubai.
"There is growing awareness around the world about Leviev's blatant human 
rights abuses," said Daniel Lang-Levitsky, a spokesman for Jews Against the 
Occupation, which is part of Adalah-NY.

Unicef, the United Nations children's agency, announced last month it would 
not accept any financial contributions from Leviev companies after finding 
"at least reasonable grounds for suspecting" they were building settlements 
in defiance of international law.
Mr Leviev is the chairman of Africa Israel Investments, a global 
conglomerate.

One of its units is Danya Cebus, which activists say is helping to construct 
the settlement of Zufim on land taken from the Palestinian village of 
Jayyous in the northern West Bank.

There is one Leviev store at the Mina Al Salam hotel in Dubai; plans to open 
more shops appear to be on hold while the Arab League's Central Boycott 
Office in Damascus considers its position.
About 20 people gathered on a rainy afternoon outside the Leviev store on 
Madison Avenue on Wednesday for the latest in a string of protests that 
started last year. Wednesday was the fourth anniversary of the International 
Court of Justice's ruling that Israel's separation barrier illegally annexed 
Palestinian land.

Just inside the store, protected by a New York police cordon, a burly 
security guard in a suit stood behind a window display of diamonds and a 
printed list of Leviev store locations - London, New York, Moscow and Dubai.
The protesters chanted such slogans as "you sparkle, you shine, but 
settlements are still a crime" and "you're glitzy, you're glam, you're 
stealing Palestinian land". Many people walking past, including glamorous 
Upper East Side ladies, looked bemused but many took a leaflet.

"Our movement is providing a model for other campaigns in the boycott 
movement," said Riham Barghouti, a spokesman for Adalah-NY, who is from 
Ramallah and works as a teacher in Brooklyn.
"Our main message to supporters either here or in the United Arab Emirates 
is that in spite of the difficulties, it is possible to get together and 
protest against human rights violations."

Mr Leviev's public relations staff would not comment. In an interview with 
Ha'aretz, an Israeli newspaper, this year, the usually media-shy Mr Leviev 
said he would build in the Palestinian territories as long as he had 
permission from Israel.
He said "groups that are funded by business competitors" were behind the 
protests but offered no evidence.

The Adalah-NY grassroots campaign - including protests, letters to the media 
and internet activism - is sharply focused against Mr Leviev and his 
business activities in the West Bank but also supports striking miners at 
his companies in Namibia and rent-controlled tenants at properties owned by 
the businessman in New York.
Although Adalah-NY is a small group, it said its effect was illustrated by 
Unicef's rejection of further financial contributions from Mr Leviev.

Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, which 
fights anti-Semitism, defends Mr Leviev.

"The decision not to accept assistance from Mr Leviev smacks of selective 
political discrimination," Mr Foxman said. "This decision only gives 
legitimacy to those who would seek to promote a boycott of the state of 
Israel and its supporters."
The debate was taken up by Richard Silverstein, who runs the liberal Tikun 
Olam website.

"I've been following Adalah's energetic, months-long campaign against 
Russo-Israeli diamond baron Lev Leviev with great interest. Not so much 
because I agree with Adalah's politics regarding the I-P [Israel-Palestine] 
conflict but because I find Leviev's political, commercial and religious 
interests to be so odious," he wrote. "Through an imaginative, tenacious 
campaign they have nipped at Leviev's heels all over the globe where he 
maintains commercial interests."
sdevi at thenational.ae

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/06/12/9573/

Published on Thursday, June 12, 2008 by Reuters
Caterpillar Annual Meeting Draws Protesters
by James B. Kelleher and Erin Zureick
Pro-Palestinian protesters angry with Caterpillar Inc for selling tractors 
to Israel picketed the company's annual meeting on Wednesday as shareholders 
rejected a proposal that would have required Caterpillar to publish a report 
on its foreign military sales.
Chanting, "Take responsibility and do the right thing," the protesters 
claimed tractors sold to the Israeli Defense Force have been used to 
demolish more than 12,000 Palestinian homes in recent years.
Caterpillar, which has been targeted by activists for five years, continues 
to say that it cannot control how its equipment is used. Sales are made 
through the U.S. government under the U.S. Foreign Military Sales Program.
The issue came to a head this year when the activists submitted a proposal 
that would have forced the company to provide a report on all such sales. 
Only 3.3 percent of Caterpillar's shareholders supported the proposal, which 
the company opposed.
The maker of heavy construction and mining equipment said such sales bought 
in just $3.7 million in 2007, or 0.008 percent of its overall sales and 
revenue, and that spending money to complete such a report would be an 
"inappropriate" use of its resources.
During the meeting, Caterpillar reiterated its financial forecast for 2008, 
saying it expects 2008 earnings per share of $5.91, up from $5.37 last year, 
on sales of $48 billion, up from $45 billion in 2007.
Last year, Caterpillar moved its annual meeting to the small town of St. 
Charles, Illinois, in part to avoid the protests that have marred the 
meeting in recent years. Even so, protesters showed up, and the company 
adjourned 30 minutes earlier than planned.
This year, some protesters carried placards bearing a picture of Rachel 
Corrie, a 23-year-old American peace activist killed in 2003 by Israeli 
soldiers driving a Caterpillar bulldozer while she was protesting a home 
demolition in the Gaza Strip.
Corrie's parents are suing Caterpillar over her death.
During Wednesday's 90-minute meeting, which was disrupted three times by 
protesters, the company's chief executive officer Jim Owens stood by 
Caterpillar's forecast that 2010 sales and revenue would approach the $60 
billion mark and that 2010 earnings per share would be between $8 and $10 a 
share.
"We're just trying to hold Caterpillar, among other companies, accountable," 
said Suha Dabbouseh, national organizer for the U.S. Campaign to End the 
Israeli Occupation.
"We think that corporations should be held accountable . It's not good 
enough to just sell your products and say we don't know any better because 
now they do know better."
Wednesday's meeting also drew pro-Israeli counter demonstrators, including 
22-year-old Josef Rabin, a political science student at Northeastern 
University who has served in the Israeli Defense Force. He defended the 
demolitions by the Israelis, saying the razed homes "had been occupied by 
terrorists."
Caterpillar shareholders also rejected a separate proposal that would have 
amended the company's bylaws and forced directors standing in uncontested 
elections to win a majority of the votes cast, not just a plurality as 
currently required.
They approved a nonbinding proposal that the company begin holding annual 
elections for all its directors, abandoning the current system of three-year 
staggered terms. Caterpillar opposed the resolution, saying the current 
structure provides stability.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mhqleygbqlau/rss2/

Amnesty International to protest against Israel in Dublin

23/08/2008 - 13:15:18
Amnesty International is asking the people of Dublin to support its campaign 
against Israel's policy of 'administrative detention'.

The group says the Israeli government is holding more than 700 Palestinians 
without charge or trial, claiming that they are security risks.

Amnesty will be on Grafton Street today, asking shoppers to sign postcards 
that they are going to send to the Israeli government.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=91498

Beirut protest decries Egypt's closure of Gazan border
By Agence France Presse (AFP)

Saturday, April 26, 2008
More than 200 people staged a sit-in outside the Egyptian Embassy in Beirut 
on Friday to demand that Cairo open its border with the densely populated 
Gaza Strip, currently being blockaded by Israel. "We are here to hand over 
to diplomats a letter for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak demanding that 
the frontier be opened.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=78013

LEBANON: Palestinians protest exclusion as government moots minimum wage

Photo: Hugh Macleod/IRIN
Children in Shatila camp play among rubble and piles of rubbish
BEIRUT, 1 May 2008 (IRIN) - With inflation in double digits and the cost of 
living rising, the government has proposed raising the minimum wage for the 
first time in a decade, but Palestinians say they continue to be 
marginalised in the labour market.

Several hundred Palestinians protested at the edge of Shatila camp in south 
Beirut on 30 April ahead of the 1 May labour day holiday, traditionally a 
time for workers' to air their grievances.

"We are humans, we have the right to live," shouted the protesters. "We are 
half humans in Lebanon."

Palestinians in Lebanon are barred from working in 70 professional 
vocations. They cannot work as lawyers and doctors, and cannot own or 
inherit property. Unemployment is rife, particularly inside the dozen 
refugee camps which are home to just over half the country's 400,000 
Palestinian refugees. In Ain al-Hilweh, the largest and most dangerous camp, 
leaders of factions estimate unemployment at 70 percent.

The rise in the minimum monthly wage from US$200 to $300 is the first 
increase in a decade, but local researchers InfoPro estimate that only 10 
percent of Lebanon's 650,000 wage earners take home the minimum wage or 
less.

Photo: Google Earth
A map highlighting the 12 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon
Half a million Lebanese are self-employed and would not benefit from the 
wage increase, while Palestinians do not qualify as they are considered 
refugees, not citizens in Lebanon.

Lebanese salaries average $500, while the actual minimum wage is around 
$320, according to figures from InfoPro. Citizens' wages are further 
supplemented by a de-facto government set of subsidies estimated at $150 a 
month, through price controls on electricity, gas, fuel and wheat.

Rising prices

Inflation in 2007 hit 16 percent, according to the Central Administration 
for Statistics.

The General Federation of Labour Unions says a family of four needs a 
minimum of $640 a month to secure the necessary basket of goods and services 
needed for a decent livelihood. The figure is based on joint research 
conducted with the help of the International Labour Organization (ILO).

Workers' unions are demanding that the minimum wage be tripled to around 
$600 and that wages above the minimum and up to $1,000 also be raised across 
the board, at a rate that beats inflation. Though widely disputed, estimates 
put average annual inflation over the past 10 years at around 25 percent. 
The unions have called a nationwide strike for 7 May.

Fuel prices have been climbing steeply over the past year, with a litre of 
diesel doubling to $1, while petrol that used to be 60 US cents per litre in 
2007 has increased to 90 US cents today. A year ago one US dollar used to 
buy a kilo of flour for bread. Today it buys 700 grams.

With electricity rationed in Beirut for three hours a day, utility bills for 
running a generator have quadrupled while in the Hezbollah-controlled 
southern suburbs, where power cuts are more extensive, residents say they 
spend around $100 a month paying for their generators, on top of regular 
utilities.

Fears of violence

One of the Palestinian protesters, Mazen al-Habit, said he was shocked at 
his treatment when trying to find work having graduated in engineering.

"I was full of hope before graduation but I have no hope now," he said. "No 
Lebanese companies accepted me and I tried to teach but they didn't give me 
more than $167, half of which I ended up spending on transport. I worked 
double shifts but now I would prefer to join one of the Palestinian factions 
where I will be paid more."

Photo: Salma Zulfiqar/IRIN
This Palestinian refugee family of 12 live in a house with only two rooms. 
Palestinians say they continue to be marginalised in the labour market
Wisal al-Jishi, from the Palestinian non-governmental organization Najde, 
said studies show that unemployment and lack of health insurance among 
Palestinians were key drivers of social unrest.

"Unemployment among Palestinians is causing social violence and we are 
worried that it also helps to radicalise younger generations," she said. 
"Some radical groups try to attract young guys with money."

In Nahr al-Bared, Islamist radical group Fatah Islam gained a foothold by 
distributing money on religious holidays to the young employed.

With a third of the cabinet still resigned, the decision to raise the 
minimum wage was not passed in the 30 April government meeting. Even when it 
gains cabinet approval, the new law will have to be passed by parliament 
which has been closed since late 2006 when the Hezbollah-led opposition 
walked out of the government.

http://www.jfri.org/page.aspx?id=175798

Jordan: Some 2,000 people protest Israel's 60th anniversary

AMMAN, Jordan - Some 2,000 people have demonstrated in Jordan's capital 
Amman to protest the 60th anniversary of the creation of Israel.
Palestinians call the establishment of Israel in 1948 their "nakba," Arabic 
for catastrophe, because hundreds of thousands of them fled or were driven 
from their homes.
The protesters in Amman on Friday were carrying Palestinian flags and 
portraits of Arab leaders.
They were angrily chanting anti-Israeli slogans, but the protest ended 
peacefully.

http://www.mathaba.net/rss/?x=592145

Iran: University students stage a sit in protest in front of UK embassy
Posted: 2008/05/14
From: Mathaba

A large number of university students staged a sit in protest in front of 
the British Embassy in Tehran on Tuesday to condemn the role of country in 
the establishment of the fabricated Zionist regime.

The protesters waved placards condemning British government along with other 
allies of global arrogance.

Representatives of the university students delivered speeches condemning the 
Zionist regime.

"The fate of Palestine is now in our hands," underlined one university 
student, adding, "We will avenge global arrogance as well as the usurper 
Zionist regime."

The sit-in protest, which went off peacefully in front of the British 
Embassy, lasted about two hours. --IRNA

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=113162

Countrywide protests against Israel, US Saturday, May 17, 2008
Islamabad

Nationwide protest rallies and strikes were held in Pakistan against America 
and Israel on the eve of national day of Israel. On Friday, angry mobs in 
Islamabad led by Imamia Students Organization have burnt American and 
Israeli flags after trampling them under their feet.

A rally was also taken out in the federal capital, which started from Sector 
G-6/2 Imam Bargah, and ended at the Press Club in Melody Market, led by Ali 
Kamil, and chief of Wahadat-E-Islami Muhammad Amin.

The protestors were holding banners and placards condemning Israel's 
anniversary day of May 12, 1948, as a bad omen for Muslims.

Addressing the protest rally, Muhammad Amin and Ali Kamil condemned Israel 
as an illegal proxy of America, under whose guise America committed genocide 
of millions of Muslims in Lebanon and Palestine, especially children.

The orators also demanded to summon an immediate meeting of OIC to denounce 
any kind of relations with Israel, while expressing their deep concern about 
heavy American influence in Pakistan.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/990939.html

Last update - 01:17 08/06/2008

Leftist groups gather in Tel Aviv to protest 41 years of occupation By Adam 
Molner Tags: Gaza, Gush Shalom, Israel
Assorted left-wing groups on Saturday gathered in Tel Aviv for a protest 
marking Israel's 41-year occupation of Palestinian land, which began when 
Israel conquered in the Six-Day War in June 1967.

Members of Gush Shalom, the Hadash political party, the Committee against 
House Demolition, Anarchists against the Wall concluded their march at Meir 
Park, which Friday was the starting point for Tel Aviv's 11th annual Gay 
Pride parade. The protesters were joined by representatives from the 
Coalition of Women for Peace, the Communist Youth League of Israel and the 
Socialist struggle movement.

"We demonstrate here against the occupation, against the war, against the 
unjustified reign over a foreign people - the people of Palestine," said Or 
Shay, a member of the Communist youth league.
Advertisement

The march itself departed from a nearby meeting point and protesters of all 
ages marched under police escort to the park.

Gush Shalom spokesman Adam Keller, one of the event's organizers, drew a 
parallel with between the situation of Palestinians in the West Bank and 
that of Black South Africans under Apartheid.

"When I look at the [West Bank] roads which are only for Israelis, I would 
say this is a specific apartheid feature which did not exist actually in 
apartheid South Africa, but it could have been. It is certainly fitting with 
the mindset of apartheid."

In an unusual step, the march was followed by small discussion groups. 
According to Keller, "We decided that it is better that we have circles 
where everybody could express his or her opinion rather than a rally where 
we have a few speakers who make speeches and then everybody claps and goes."

Despite the overall peaceful nature of the rally, marchers did face some 
opposition to their protest. According to one demonstrator, a woman told him 
"you're sick. Go do this march at the kibbutzim that are now being bombed in 
the south."

http://www.cctv.com/english/20080824/104242.shtml

Israelis gather to protest against Bedouin´s death
Source: Xinhua | 08-24-2008 13:24
JERUSALEM, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- About 200 Israeli Arabs and Jews gathered 
Saturday afternoon in the Negev desert of southern Israel in memory of a 
Bedouin who died after being violently attacked by police.
Haia Noach, one of the organizers of the gathering, told Xinhua that the aim 
of the conference is to commemorate the death of Sabry El Jarjawi, an 
Israeli Bedouin youth, and to protest against the violence and brutality of 
the Israeli police forces that attacked Jarjawi.
"We hope Jarjawi's death could draw the Israeli society's attention to the 
police forces' attitude towards the Bedouins as well as other Israeli 
Arabs," said Noach.
According to organizers of the conference, Jarjawi was attacked by the 
police in March during a leisure trip to the coastal city of Ashkalon. The 
police stopped the young Bedouin near the seashore, requesting 
identification, then verbally insulted him.
The verbal confrontation then turned into severe violence, during which 
Jarjawi was "slammed repeatedly in the head and in other organs until he 
lost consciousness," the organizers said.
Jarjawi died from his wounds three months after the incident.
Dr. Mansur, Jarjawi's brother, complained that until now his family has not 
seen the investigation report on the case as well as the autopsy report.
The Bedouins are a desert-dwelling Arab nomadic group. There are more than 
100,000 Bedouins living in the Negev desert as Israeli citizens.