Alternative Insight
At the White House Americans Protest Israel's War on Gaza
They came from all parts of he United States, in much larger numbers than reported by the sparsely attending conventional press, protesting Israel's war against Gaza, walking back and forth for more than one hour in front of the White House and then leaving 1600 Independence Avenue to march for three hours down 15th Street to K and 17th Street and back to Lafayette Square Park.According to the writer's count, made by recording the number of rows of marchers passing a point (800), and noting there were about 20 persons per row, the protesters numbered 15,000 to 20,000, much more than stated in the New York Times headline, Thousands of pro-Palestinian supporters rally in DC, which was echoed by the Washington Post and Reuters news agency. Nor were they pro-Palestinian supporters; they were Americans protesting the indiscriminate killings of innocent Palestinian civilians.
Another reading, which notes that the march, after reaching its destination at K and 17th Street, stretched back to I and 15th Street, a distance of 0.4 mile, estimates a column of 20 times 1000 or 20,000 folks.
Images tell the story:
From the writer's perspective, Arab Americans composed a large majority of the crowd. Many complete families marched together, children carrying signs and reciting chorused messages, which indicated that the Palestinian cause will not be forgotten but persist for generations, if not for ever.
Gaza don't cry, Palestine will never die.
For a people who are occupied, Resistance is justified.
Gaza does not need a slaughter, Gazans need bread and water.
This is not a war that is justified, This is a genocide.In addition, they carried memories, remembrances of a people who lived undisturbed and in social harmony until Zionists invaded their land.
From a hill in Gaza, you can barely see the remaining outlines of the previous Arab village of al-Majdal, located close to the Canaanite Gate of ancient Ashkelon. An industrious village, known for a weaving industry that produced silk for festival dresses, Al-Majdal's population grew to 11,000 by 1948. The poetic naming of their fabrics: 'ji'nneh u nar' - 'heaven and hell', 'nasheq rohoh' - 'breath of the soul' and 'abu mitayn' - 'father of two hundred, signified the pride and originality of the Al-Majdal weavers.
If the protesters gained entry to the White House and asked the president of the United States, "did he believe it permissible for foreign fighters (few Israeli fighters at that time were born in the Levant and many were recruited from foreign nations) to enter a foreign town and conquer it," for sure President Obama would reply with a vigorous "No!"
If the protesters asked the president of the United States, "did he excuse ethnic cleansing," for sure President Obama would reply with a vigorous "No!"
If the protesters asked the president of the United States, "did he believe that a community, physically forced from their land and illegally kept in a virtual prison afterwards, with no end to the incarceration in sight, has been justly treated,: for sure President Obama would reply with a vigorous "No!"
If the protesters asked the president of the United States, "did he approve of periodic bombings and killings of a community that had been physically forced from their land and kept in a virtual prison afterwards, with no end to the incarceration in sight," for sure President Obama would reply with a vigorous "No!"Many of those who live in Gaza are original inhabitants and descendants of Palestinians from the villages between Gaza and Ashdod, just north of present Ashkelon. From an Alternative Insight article on Ashkelon:
Not well recognized is that the territory awarded to the Palestinians in Resolution 181 extended along the coast to present day Ashdod, 38 kilometers above Gaza. With war raging in their midst, the citizens of Al-Majdal retreated 15 kilometers to a haven in Gaza. On November 4, 1948, Israeli forces captured the city. In August 1950, by a combination of inducements and threats, Al-Majdal's 1000-2000 remaining inhabitants were expelled and trucked to Gaza. According to Eyal Kafkafi(1998),"Segregation or integration of the Israeli Arabs - two concepts in Mapai," International Journal of Middle East Studies 30: 347-367, David Ben-Gurion and Moshe Dayan promoted the expulsion while Pinhas Lavon, secretary-general of the Histadrut, "wished to turn the town into a productive example of equal opportunity for the Arabs." Despite a ruling by the Egyptian-Israel Mixed Armistice Commission that the Arabs transferred from Majdal should be returned to Israel, this never happened.
The nightmare for the expelled residents of Al-Majdal did not end with their arduous trip to Gaza. Without going into detail, the years from 1950 until the present have been years of internment in refugee camps, brutal occupation, constant strife, military raids in their neighborhoods, destruction of facilities, denial of everyday life, denial of livelihood, denial of access to the sea, denial of access to the outside world. In 1994, after the signing of the Oslo accords, Israel constructed a 60-kilometer fence around the Gaza Strip and from December 2000 to June 2001 reinforced and rebuilt parts of the fence.
Here we have it all -- foreign fighters entering a foreign town and conquering it, ethnic cleansing, a community physically forced from their land and illegally kept in a virtual prison afterwards, with no end to the incarceration in sight, and periodic bombings and killings of a community that had been physically forced from their land and kept in a virtual prison afterwards, with no end to the incarceration in sight.
If President Obama honestly believes in social; justice, why has he not translated his beliefs into action? The president of the world's mightiest nation cannot act. This is strange.
The Zionists' ethnic cleansing of more than 400 Palestinian villages served as the Palestinian Munich. Without the world responding aggressively to the criminal actions, the Zionists realized they could proceed and not be challenged. Israeli leaders quickly learned they could convince an innocent world that they are the victims and are only seeking security. These obvious falsehoods served the same purpose in the present attack on Gaza.
Somehow, the world did not grasp that Israel's July 16 attack on Al-Wafa Hospital in the densely populated Shuja'iyya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City was a test case for ascertaining how far the international community would permit Israel to extend its atrocities to other public installations - hospitals and schools. A usual lack of an aggressive response by the Western nations gave Israel a green signal to continue ahead, which they did.
Israel withdraws most of its ground troops from Gaza after U.S. condemns 'shelling of UN school as disgraceful.'
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, August 3, 2014,U.N. officials say more than three-quarters of the dead have been civilians, including the 10 people killed Sunday at a U.N. school that has been converted into a shelter in the southern town of Rafah.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the attack a "moral outrage and a criminal act" and demanded a quick investigation, while the U.S. State Department said Washington was "appalled" by the "disgraceful" attack.
According to witnesses, Israeli strikes hit just outside the main gates of the school. The Red Crescent, a charity, said the attack occurred while people were in line to get food from aid workers. Gaza health official Ashraf al-Kidra said in addition to the dead, 35 people were wounded.
Robert Turner, director of operations for the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza, said the building had been providing shelter for some 3,000 people. He said the strike killed at least one U.N. staffer.
"The locations of all these installations have been passed to the Israeli military multiple times," Turner said. "They know where these shelters are. How this continues to happen, I have no idea. I have no words for it. I don't understand it."In answer to this atrocity, "world leaders' demonstrated their courage, fortitude and vision.
Ban Ki-Moon calls the attack (one of many during the last week) a "moral outrage and a criminal act" and demands a quick investigation.
The U.S. State Department is "appalled" by the "disgraceful" attack.
Robert Turner, director of operations for the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza, says "The locations of all these installations have been passed to the Israeli military multiple times," and does not know "how this continues to happen, I have no idea. I have no words for it. I don't understand it."These hypocritical "say somethings" and "donothings" must have learned their trade from watching the film Casablanca:
Capt. Louis Renault: "I'm shocked, shocked to find gambling is going on here."
Rick Blaine: "I'd bet they're asleep in New York. I'd bet they're asleep all over America…"
[Strasser draws a gun, he and Rick both fire simultaneously, Strasser falls mortally wounded, shortly afterward, some police arrive on the scene]
Captain Renault: "Major Strasser's been shot."
[Renault looks at Rick, Rick gives him a look]
Captain Renault: "Round up the usual suspects."
Ilsa: "Can I tell you a story, Rick?"
Rick: "Has it got a wow finish?"
Ilsa: "I don't know the finish yet."
Rick: "Well, go on. Tell it - maybe one will come to you as you go along."Captain Renault: "Oh no! Not here please! Come to my office tomorrow morning. We'll do everything businesslike."
Jan Brandel: "We'll be there at six!"
Captain Renault:" I'll be there at ten."
Rick: "Don't you sometimes wonder if it's worth all this? I mean what you're fighting for."
Victor Laszlo: "You might as well question why we breathe. If we stop breathing, we'll die. If we stop fighting our enemies, the world will die."
Rick: "Well, what of it? It'll be out of its misery."
Victor Laszlo: "You know how you sound, Mr. Blaine? Like a man who's trying to convince himself of something he doesn't believe in his heart."
.
Capt. Louis Renault: "We mustn't underestimate American blundering. I was with them when they blundered into Berlin in 1918."
.
Capt. Louis Renault: "Realizing the importance of the case, my men are rounding up twice the usual number of suspects."Rick Blaine: "I came to Casablanca for the waters."
Capt. Louis Renault: "Waters? We're in a DESERT!"
Rick Blaine: "I was misinformed."Rick Blaine: "Here's looking at you, kid."
The latter expression reflects what Israel says to an unknowing world. Through a fog of contrived and purposeful misconceptions, Israel justifies its illegal actions, and has the justifications repeated by U.S. government officials and a host of allied media personalities.
Threats to Israel's security do not trigger attacks by Israel against the Palestinians; they are triggered by resistance to Israel's expansion and oppression. History shows that if there is no resistance, only a moderate number of Palestinians are periodically killed; mild resistance and a substantial number of Palestinians are killed; active resistance and Israel takes out all stops - bring in the F16s, tanks, guided missiles, naval warships and obliterate.
As the latest attack on Gaza dissipates, the manner in which Israel has again deceived the world comes into focus. Because the man in the White House refused to be directly addressed, let us address him indirectly.
President Obama demanded that Hamas release a "kidnapped" Israeli soldier (who had entered Gaza to kill Palestinians); otherwise any truce would be jeopardized.
Interpretation: Do what Israel says or have your people murdered.
Israel has kidnapped tens of thousands of Palestinians during the years, shot many on the spot, and these unfortunates are portrayed as detainees. In this Gaza war, hundreds of kidnapped Palestinian civilians have been "detained," and, although many Hamas militants have been captured (invading Israeli soldiers are kidnapped while defending Hamas militants are captured) no notice of their fate is revealed. Are they tortured, shot, detained?With "egg on his face," the U.S. President did not apologize to Hamas when he learned that the "kidnapped" Israeli soldier was killed in battle, probably by an Israeli shell. If President Obama is concerned about war crimes and atrocities, he should digest one of many Human Rights Watch reports. Start with the extensive report of Israeli soldiers killing fleeing civilians in Gaza.
http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/08/04/gaza-israeli-soldiers-shoot-and-kill-fleeing-civilians
Questions?
" Did Israel attack Gaza specifically to silence the rockets or did it use the rocket attacks as an excuse to silence opposition?
" Can tunnels, which have been used only to repel Israeli soldiers and have not been used for attacks on civilians be classified as "terrorist?" Are not defensive lines, such as the World War II Maginot Line, built underground?
" Should tunnels, which have been used to protect against illegal targeted killings by drones, be classified as anti-terrorist?
" Can unguided rockets that do little harm to civilians be described as targeting civilians?
" Can guided rockets that do extensive harm to civilians be described as not targeting civilians?
" Given that Hamas unguided rockets only caused two deaths in Israel (one died from a front line mortar) and Israeli guided missiles caused 2000 deaths, who are the terrorists and who are the resistors?
" Did Israel call truces to stop the violence or to regroup their forces?
" Did Hamas break a truce or respond to encountering Israel army who took advantage of the "truce" by moving troops into new positions?
" If Israel did not, without foundation, arrest 800 Hamas members in the West Bank and kill five Palestinians would the retaliatory rocket attacks have occurred?
" Would demilitarization of Gaza leave Hamas defenseless, leave the Palestinians open to total control by Israel and amount to Palestinian surrender?
The peaceful and gracious attitude of the Washington DC marchers contrasted greatly with reports from Israeli newspapers of demonstrations in Israel.Ynet News reports that an Arab-Israel footballer "was playing a game when right-wing extremists invaded the pitch, insulting him and chanting "F*** the Arabs! Some fans even spat at him."
Haaretz reports that "Haifa's deputy mayor and his son were beaten Saturday when right-wing activists attacked left-wingers protesting Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip. The right-wing activists had gathered in the area, burned a Palestinian flag and shouted 'Death to Arabs.'"
Haaretz reports that right-wing counter-protesters at an anti-war demonstration in Tel Aviv "shouted 'Death to the leftists' and merrily sang 'Why is there no school in Gaza? Because no more kids are left.'"Prime Minister Benjamin Mileikowsky (Netanyahu) asked the world to join him an effort to defeat Hamas. If President Obama replied, "We'll join the world to defeat Mileikovsky and his band of occupiers," Americans will know that the United States is on a road to becoming a sound nation. The proclamation would definitely generate hope for Casablanca's Rick Blaine and maybe for all humanity.
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