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NEWS & LETTERS, May 2002
Demands intensify for justice in the Middle
East: Protests in Memphis, Tenn., and Berkeley, Calif.
Memphis, Tennessee In the first week in April well
over 125 Palestinian men, women and children, as well as other Middle Eastern
people, demonstrated on a busy street corner here, protesting the Israeli
occupation of Palestinian areas. The demonstration was almost
frantic, with people screaming until they were hoarse or lost their voices. A
woman explained why the demonstration had such a desperate tone. Her family
lived where some of the heaviest fighting was being carried out and she didn't
know and couldn't find out if her relatives were alive or dead, she said. Israeli soldiers were not
letting ambulances through, injured people were bleeding to death in the
streets, people were running out of food and some already "had nothing and
were naked in the streets." She despaired the U.S. media reports which only
give the official Israeli point of view. She was trying to get the truth of the
situation of the Palestinians under siege, she said. Signs and chants revealed the
diverse nature of those in attendance. Some equated Zionism with racism and
terrorism, and chanted "Down with Israel," revealing that they either
had no understanding of the growing peace movement within Israel, or that they
had succumbed to hatred and wanted Israel and all the Jews within it to be
driven into the sea. But others held signs reading,
"Jerusalem belongs to all religions." And while there were several
American flags waving, anger at the U.S. government was strongly expressed with
chants of "Bush, Bush you should know, occupation has got to go!" and
many signs reading "USA—With Force Comes Responsibility," "Fund
Education, Not Occupation," and "Stop funding racism, stop sending tax
$$$ to Israel." Perhaps the sign that spoke for all there—Arabs,
Palestinians, and U.S. activists alike—was: "Stop the occupation!" Later in the month, a smaller
group of Palestinians and supporters held a silent demonstration at the
University of Memphis Campus. There were Palestinian students and some American
and other nationalities. They stood opposite to Jewish students who were
celebrating the founding of Israel and held signs protesting the war crimes in
Palestine. At this demonstration there was
no chanting, simply standing silently with signs. As one Palestinian woman told
me, "The important thing was that some students, who don't know anything,
came and talked to us and asked us why we were angry, and we explained to
them." There is no doubt that demonstrations of one kind or another will
continue. Some of us plan to start a Women in Black group here in the fall. —Marxist-Humanist activist Berkeley, California In response to Sharon's
invasion of the West Bank, Jewish Voices for Peace and others organized a
demonstration and march in Berkeley on April 2. Even with only a day's notice,
more than 600 came demanding immediate withdrawal of Israeli troops and
Palestinian statehood. In the next couple weeks, there
were dozens more events. For example, an Israeli student, Tamir Sorek, who is an
officer in the Israeli reserve army, talked on several occasions about why he
chose to join the ranks of the "refuseniks." He spoke on the steps of the
Israeli consulate on April 4 and at the Berkeley campus the next day. He said he
believes Jews have a right to live in Israel and he would defend Israel from
military threats. However, he said that the human
obligation to act morally overrode military orders to wage an unjust war against
civilians. He distinguished between a war of self-defense and a war of
occupation. He dismissed the arguments that the Israeli Defense Force was going
into the West Bank only to pursue military targets. When a commander orders such
an action in a heavily populated civilian area, it is a fact that there will be
civilian casualties. This military operation would not create a more secure
Israel, or make it possible for Israelis to live with Palestinians or their Arab
neighbors, he said. Sorek stressed his opposition
to Israelis and Palestinians whose only solution is to exterminate the other.
He mentioned those on both sides who want to live in peace, citing a number of
organizations such as Gush Shalom and Mothers of Victims of Violence, which
includes mothers from both sides. It was surprising that the Left, which
embraces the Palestinian cause, did not come to hear this. Then on April 20, during the
planned anti-war march against "the real axis of evil: war, racism and
poverty," support for the besieged Palestinians overwhelmed all other
issues. Over 30,000 came from all over the western states and even Canada, to
express a diverse opposition to militarism. Many Arabs as well as Jews came
out with home made signs: "Your tax $ pay for Sharon's bullets,"
"How can you end terrorism with terrorism?" "No one is free until
we're all free." The Santa Cruz Coalition to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
marched with environmental groups to stop oil drilling in the arctic and to save
the redwoods. Others who focused on opposing
U.S. intervention in Colombia or the Philippines, marched with the victims of
police terror in the Black community. There were representatives of the
anti-globalization movement—against GAP, Enron, Starbucks, etc. Perhaps the very diversity of
the march will become a challenge to the activists that they not fall into a
narrow anti-imperialism of much of the Left. We must create a space for to
dialogue regarding not only what we are opposing but figuring out what we are
for. —Participants |
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