Harsha Prabhu
Sunday’s Channon Market saw a ‘shout out’ in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and a protest against the actions of the Israeli government and military who have killed over 30 unarmed civilians and injured over a thousand in the last 10 days.
The death toll includes three Palestinian journalists.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been protesting peacefully for the last two weeks as part of a campaign called The Great March of Return that will run until May 15. Their demand: to be allowed back to the ancestral homelands they were displaced from since the creation of Israel in 1948, a right enshrined in UN resolution 194 on Palestinian refugees’ right of return.
Addressing the Channon shout out, Gareth Smith from Byron Friends of Palestine said, ‘My eighth grandchild was born this morning. I am thankful my grand-daughter was not born in Palestine or Gaza. Currently there are 350 Palestinian children in Israeli jails and most have been tortured. Unlike Israeli children Palestinian kids, like teenager Ahed Tamimi, are charged under military law.’
‘According to the Defence of Children International one Palestinian child has been killed by an Israeli in uniform every three days for the past 18 years! Gaza is the world’s biggest prison with 2 million cramped into about 362 sq kms,’ he said.
‘I am thankful to be alive but probably would not be were I in Israel and waving a Palestinian flag. Ibrahim Abu Thuraya was in his wheelchair doing just that when an Israeli sniper shot him through the head. ‘
‘General Eisenkot’s deleted tweet stated that the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) knows where every bullet landed so all the murders of Gazan unarmed protesters was deliberate and coordinated,’ he said.
The actions of the Israeli government have dawn worldwide condemnation from civil society and human rights groups, including New York based Human Rights Watch, which has called it unlawful.
The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court at The Haguesaid the actions constituted a crime under the Rome statute of the ICC.
US-based Jewish Voice for Peace said, ‘We are calling for an end to Israeli violence against civilians and a just solution for Palestinian refugees in Gaza based on principles established in international law.’
Israeli human rights monitor B’Tselem has called on IDF soldiers to refuse to fire on unarmed demonstrators.
Another speaker at the shout out said, ‘ Even as we speak, unarmed Palestinians are doing the Gandhian thing and marching to the gates and being killed by Israeli snipers.’
He said, ‘It’s not a Jewish or Muslim question; it’s fascism. We also feel for the Israelis who have been brutalised by the occupation and the thousands in Israel who want to live in peace.’
Quoting ex-IDF soldier and Israeli peace activist Iran Efrati, he said: ‘You may think Palestine is far away; but it’s not. The tactics used by Israel to subdue Palestinians today will be used by our governments against us tomorrow. Israel is training police and paramilitary in many countries, including the US, Australia and India. It’s at the centre of the military industrial complex that rules the world.’
He said, ‘We who live in the rainbow region of Australia believe in peace, love and brown rice, but we also believe in human rights for all.’
Where is the “shout out” for the 500,000 killed in Syria? Why are these people obsessed with only Jewish misdeeds?
I totally agree Ephraim
And the 5 million killed in Zaire, the Democratic Republic of Congo? Remember that the dictatorship of Mobutu for 32 years was supported by Israel (& the US). It was this dictatorship that has caused so many of the on-going problems.
In what way do bad things going on in other places affect the subject that we are talking about here?
and who are “these people?” that you speak off, and how do you know that they are not also campaigning for peace everywhere? most of us campaigned and fought against apartheid in SA, occupation in Timor, Tibet, West Papua and many other places.
and who is talking about Jews? we are talking about Israel, not Jews. there are, for instance, many Jews in our organisation who support Palestinian human rights and human rights everywhere. why do you think they are “obsessed with only Jewish misdeeds”?
where were you when we were protesting against Burma? You can shove your implied antisemitism straight back up your sit-on-your-ass-while-people-suffer inert backside!
If you are (rightly) outraged by what’s happening in Syria then organise a shout out for Syria. We would be happy to help out.
NO?
Didn’t think so… just being an apologist for human right’s abusers?
An admission that two wrongs don’t make a right is hardly a defense?
The world is changing so fast these days, the century of US full spectrum domination is over. We have a multipolar world,
I welcome this new dynamic.
How Israel will negotiate the new power balance will be interesting.
But without Uncle Sam as top dog, they must surely try a new approach.
Here’s to a fairer world for everyone.
What’s actually happening is that Hamas, a terrorist organization, is paying Gazans to attempt to storm the Israeli border. Israel is a sovereign nation and entitled, no obligated to protect it’s borders from being stormed by terrorists and their proxies so their people can live in peace. Further Hamas has now set fire to a huge stack of tyres – terrible for the environment. But they don’t care even though this threatens their own people.
“Hamas, a terrorist organization, is paying Gazans to attempt to storm the Israeli border.”
Did u just make that up or can you show some evidence?and does “defend its borders” mean shooting people in the back when they are running away, or shooting people in wheelchairs, or shooting 7 journalists wearing PRESS jackets?
how about people praying on the ground? were they defending themselves with lethal live fire against deadly prayer?
so far 1,300 UNARMED people have been shot by Isreali snipers.
these heinous killings of unarmed demonstrators just shows the brutality and illegality of the apartheid, siege and occupation inflicted on Palestinians by the murderous occupation forces.
everyone deserves freedom – not just israelis