A girl demonstrates in front of the Israeli Embassy in Caracas, capital of Venezuela, on Dec. 29, 2008.
Many around the world see Israel’s collective punishment of Gazans as fundamentally illegitimate. Protests and rallies are happening in numerous places and ways around the world and they show that the governments do not represent true public opinion but rather the power calculus of a still-unipolar world:
Riyadh (which Saudi broke up of course); by sea (Israeli navy boat rams humanitarian aid boat); Sidon, Lebanon; Hull, UK; against Arab “leaders”; Ireland; in Yemen (where they stormed the Egyptian consulate); San Francisco, CA; Jordan; Jordan’s parliament; Beirut; West Bank; Austin, TX; Iranian war crimes tribunal; Abu Dhabi; Iranian Jews; Nablus; Middle East; Iraq (a Gaza protest was hit by a suicide bomber); Syrian government and people; AKP in Turkey; Louisville, KY; Amman; Indianapolis, IN; Paris, France; Birmingham, UK; Orange County, CA; The Taliban; Jerusalem; Pakistan; Cincinnati, OH; Melbourne, Australia; Israeli embassy in London; Bulgaria; Srinigar, India; Morocco; Tel Aviv; Gaza’s Christians (who canceled Christmas); the UN; Kuwait; Japan; Indonesia; Na’alin, West Bank (where Israel killed a protester); Vancouver, Canada; Philippines; Sydney, Australia; Iran; Athens, Greece; Cleveland, OH; Bahrain; Hezbollah; Egyptian government protests Syria and Iran; Palestinians with Israeli citizenship (or, “Israeli Arabs” in official Israeli discourse); Nigeria.
Egyptians, outnumbered by police, demonstrate to show support for the Palestinian people, in Cairo.
Israel may be able to temporarily diminish rocket attacks, but at what cost? How much human life will it destroy to secure itself? How many Gazans must perish for Kadima to win, for Fatah to get a so-called state, for Arab leaders to quiet the Palestine issue? With so much resentment and opposition against its basic policies towards the Palestinians, its long-term viability is under question. Israel can rid itself of Hamas, maybe, but it definitely cannot erase the bad will generated by its historic belligerence.
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Will, “Israeli Arabs”? Not the preferred usage.
Posted by Ismail | December 30, 2008, 7:44 amThanks Ismail, I corrected it.
Posted by Will | December 30, 2008, 8:15 amMany around the world see Israel’s collective punishment of Gazans as fundamentally illegitimate.
Ironically, these same people justify the rocketing of civilians in Sderot. Somehow, that’s not collective punishment.
Israel may be able to temporarily diminish rocket attacks, but at what cost?
No, Israel will permanently diminish rocket attacks. I think the question you need to consider is: is the rocketing of Israeli civilians so important to Palestinians that they are willing to risk entirely losing Gaza to Israel? I think that’s a possibility.
Posted by Roy | December 30, 2008, 8:20 amProtests and rallies are happening in numerous places and ways around the world and they show that the governments do not represent true public opinion
Because "true public opinion" is reflected by the demonstration of literally hundreds — if not thousands! — of people around the world.
Riiiiight. That's public opinion. Not majority public opinion, but an opinion of part of the public.
Egyptians, outnumbered by police
Heh. Musta been quite a crowd. Practically the whole population.
Posted by Roy | December 30, 2008, 8:50 amWill,
I love your posts. One correction I have to this particular post is in regards to your reference to “Srinagar, India.” Srinagar is the capital city of Indian-occupied Kashmir. The people of Kashmir, amidst their own struggle for freedom, have always stood in solidarity with the people of Palestine. Even when Israel invaded Lebanon in 2002, I was in Kashmir when Kashmiri political parties called for a strike in which businesses and schools were closed for one full day. Similarly, since the recent bombardment of Gaza, thousands of Kashmiris have taken to the streets in protest.
The plight of the Palestinian people is unique in many ways. However, occupation and injustice is a daily reality from the americas to africa to asia. It is only when we recognize this fact can we truly build a movement that links people across national and religious lines.
Posted by nufi | January 1, 2009, 10:14 pm