[fse-esf] World protests against Israeli attacks

[sarah colborne]

> Al Jazeera English
>
> World protests against Israeli raids
>
> Sunday 23 July 2006
>
>
>
> Thousands of people around the world gathered in street protests on
Saturday
> to demand an end to Israel's offensive in Lebanon and Gaza.
>
> The biggest rally took place in London where thousands of demonstrators
> urged Tony Blair, the British prime minister, to stop what they described
as
> his refusal to condemn Israel's actions and join international calls for
an
> immediate ceasefire.
>
> "Peace for Lebanon!" they chanted as the march weaved its way through
> central London, past the US embassy and on to Hyde Park, watched all the
way
> by the police.
>
> "Stop the killing, stop the bombs. Israel out of Lebanon," shouted the
> peaceful protestors, many draped in Lebanese or Palestinian flags.
>
> Others shouted "Hezbollah is here to stay. Zionism go away".
>
> Betty Hunter, the general-secretary of the Palestine solidarity campaign,
> one of the groups that organised the event, said it was vital to reject
> Israel's two-pronged campaign against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and
Hamas
> in Gaza.
>
>
> 'Ashamed' ofBlair
>
>
> She said: "The main purpose of this demonstration is to say to Tony Blair
> and our government that we are ashamed of the position they are taking
which
> is basically to collude with the war crimes of Israel."
>
> Israel's 11-day air offensive in Lebanon has left more than 372 Lebanese
and
> 34 Israelis dead, while more than 100 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier
> have died in Gaza.
>
> The operation in Lebanon was sparked when the Shia group Hezbollah
kidnapped
> two Israeli soldiers on July 12.
>
> Disgust at the toll spurred people to join the rally in London.
> Police put the number of participants at 6,000 to 7,000, while organisers
> said the turnout was between 20,000 and 25,000.
>
>
> 'Disgust'
>
>
> Much of the anger at Saturday's London protest was directed at the British
> government for its refusal to openly condemn Israel's actions and call for
> an immediate ceasefire.
>
> Yasmin Ataullah, the spokeswoman for the British Muslim initiative, said:
> "We're disgusted by the way the US and Britain have isolated themselves
from
> the rest of the international community."
>
> Speaking in Beirut, Kim Howells, a foreign office minister, made the
> strongest criticism yet of Israel by a British government minister.
>
> He said: "These have not been surgical strikes. It's very, very difficult
to
> understand the kind of military tactics that have been used.
>
> "You know, if they're chasing Hezbollah, then go for Hezbollah. You don't
go
> for the entire Lebanese nation."
>
>
> 'No war' in Sydney
>
>
> In Sydney, a 10,000-strong crowd waved Australian and Lebanese flags and
> carried coffins and placards saying "No War" as they made their way
through
> the city centre, escorted by about 400 police.
>
> "They are murdering children and burying them under rubble," a
> Lebanese-Australian woman, who gave her name only as Diana, told
Australian
> associated press.
>
>
> Jews and Arabs in Tel Aviv
>
>
> In Tel Aviv, 1,000 Israeli Jews and Arabs turned out to denounce their
> country's actions, gathering in Rabin Square and brandishing placards
> reading "war is disaster" and "Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies".
>
> Mohammed Barrakeh, an Israeli-Arab MP, said: "This war is a catastrophe.
We
> can prevent this catastrophe through negotiations that would save the
lives
> of Arabs and Israelis.
>
> "The war won't end soon but we won't stop protesting either."
>
>
> Geneva's silent march
>
>
> In Stockholm, where 2,000 marched to the Israeli embassy, several hundred
> protestors clashed with police, throwing stones and objects at police
> officers. Two people were arrested.
>
> Other demonstrations took place in Geneva, Paris, Strasbourg, Warsaw,
> Chicago, Amsterdam and in a number of cities around Britain.
>
> In Geneva, 500 people marched in silence behind a coffin meant to
symbolise
> the death of the conscience of the United Nations.
>
> Anouar Gharbi, the president of the rights for all association that
> organised the protest, said: "We have chosen a silent march to show that
> there is no word to qualify the unqualifiable."
>
> And several hundred demonstrators gathered in downtown Chicago carrying
> banners that read: "The Right to Fight Or The Might to Smite", or "Not
with
> our money, not in our name."
>
> 'Outraged' in Chicago
>
>
> Dale Lehman, a 60-year-old Jewish resident of Chicago, said: "I'm outraged
> as an American, I'm outraged as a human being at what is happening to the
> people of Lebanon."
>
> A small counter-protest demonstrated in support of Israel over the road
from
> the main rally.
>
> The main Chicago rally was organised by the American council on
> American-Islamic relations.
>
>