By Hody Nemes

Published July 24, 2014.

"Holding signs emblazoned with slogans like “Boycott Israeli Apartheid” and “New York Jews Say: Not in Our Name,” hundreds of protesters marched through lower Manhattan on Thursday demanding an end to American support for Israel’s operation in Gaza.

The event was one of many held in the U.S. and around the world as part of a “national day of action” against Israel’s Gaza campaign. Two Jewish groups, Jewish Voices for Peace and Jews Say No!, were among the march’s organizers, and numerous Jews came to protest Israel’s military campaign.

“I’m here because of the massacre that has recently happened, but also because of the ongoing occupation,” said Anna Jacobs, who was pushing her toddler in a stroller.

Standing nearby, Jews Say No! activist Dorothy Zellner lamented that outsiders assume the Jewish community uniformly supports Israel. “This is heartbreaking. Everyone thinks Israel represents us and speaks for us,” she said.

“I think there’s a myth that the Jewish community supports the Israeli attack on Gaza,” she added, and asserted that there are “hundreds of thousands” of Jews in the U.S. that oppose the Israeli occupation.

Most of the Jewish protesters interviewed opposed Israeli policies long before the current campaign. But they view the current hostilities as deplorable, or even criminal.

“It’s with our weapons, and our funding, and we’re complicit in war crimes,” said Jenny Heinz, a Jewish senior citizen wearing a keffiyah. “My parents escaped from [Nazi] Germany. ‘Never again’ was always understood by me to mean never again for anyone.”

Zellner, who said she organized for civil rights in the 1960s, feels compelled to by Jewish values to protest the Gaza operation.

“Speaking as a Jew, this is a shonde. We’re driven by our tradition that says, ‘you shall not stand idly by,’ and we won’t stand idly by,” she said. “I was shot at and arrested for principles of equal rights. I want a state where Israelis and Palestinians are safe [with] equal rights for all.”

Israel says the Gaza operation is necessary to address dangerous rocket fire from Gaza militants, which threatens the lives of innocent Israeli civilians. But protesters asked about this justification brushed it aside. “We don’t buy it,” Zellner said. “This is blaming the victim to the extreme.”

Protest organizers specifically called for an end to U.S. support for Israel’s military operation and its occupation more generally.

“It’s a shame that our Congress, our media, and — as a Jew — our U.S. Jewish institutions are largely silent, if not supportive [of the operation],” said Brandon Davis, a 23-year-old volunteer with Jewish Voices for Peace. “We’re hoping to change the political discourse that is shamefully and uniformly pro-Israel.”

Misha Shulman, a 37-year-old Israeli immigrant, had an unplanned protest of his own. The former IDF soldier strongly opposes Israel’s Gaza operation and joined the march against it. He said he is “pretty horrified” by the war and the number of Palestinian civilians being killed.

But after a few minutes of marching, he no longer felt comfortable. “They’re calling [the operation] a genocide,” he said, and noted that the marchers also shouted slogans in favor of boycotting Israel. “It’s essentially an anti-Israel protest, and I’m not anti-Israel in general, I just oppose most of the government’s policies.”

After glimpsing a sign that read “Israel=KKK,” Shulman had had enough; he departed the line of marchers and sat down on a park bench.

“At Israeli protests, we chant “Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies,” he said. “I hoped that I would find my part of the demonstration [where] that’s the general sentiment.”

Edited by legaleagle (26 Jul 2014 2.13pm)

I think she's overly optimistic.

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

3 July:

"new Palestinian jihadist group pledging allegiance to the Islamic State (formerly known as ISIL) has claimed responsibility for the killing of three Israeli teenagers last month in the West Bank, as well as other recent deadly attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians.

In a statement posted on jihadi websites Tuesday, the Supporters of the Islamic State in Bayt al-Maqdis said it was behind the capture and killing of “the three soldiers” , sniper attacks in Hebron and Tarqumia, and missile launches from Gaza into Israel a month and a half ago.

The actions were carried out in honor of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed “caliph” of the Islamic State, the reincarnation of the Islamic State in Syria and the Levant (ISIL) declared last month, the statement said."

Edited by legaleagle (26 Jul 2014 4.05pm)

Agreed ,and that the "cell" had "affiliated" with the Islamic State grouping

Israel are never going back to 47.....They won land in wars that they won't give up....Only force of arms would see that occur.

They will potentially go back to 67.....With pressure though......Like I've said before.....The incentives for Israel would have to be significant......And with Hamas and enemies like Iran and Saud around them....It just isn't going to happen.

Many in Israel have accepted permanent war against a weak opponent as preferable to risking the creation of a state that can become powerful and with help attack you and destroy you.

A two state solution is the eventual prize but you have to convince Israelis that their state is secured no matter what......There are ways to do that but none that I suspect Hamas would accept....Also the right of return just wouldn't work now....Even though that is a genuine injustice.

We can't have peace with Hamas involved in Palestinian policy.

So on we go.

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

Ah well......Well I won (bought) this mince and onion pie from the chip shop.

Now I'm going to illegally occupy it (eat it).

How do you like those apples?

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)