Max Blumenthal: Israelis to Obama - "Save Us From Ourselves!"
From Mondoweiss:
At about 3:10:
"You see how few we are," said a demonstrator holding a sign reading "Obama, Yes-U-Can." "This is about all the Israelis who really oppose the Occupation -- it's very small. Most of the Israelis don't care about the Occupation and what goes on in the Occupied Territories and about the suffering of the Palestinians. I think it must come from the -- the pressure must come from the outside... From here, there's not enough."
Sums it up, really...
posted by Gert @ 3:59 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I think the small number of marchers is not an indication of low support for peace. Thousands gather at Rabin Square for peace rallies, especially the one in memory of Yitzhak Rabin. In this case, Hadash, a communist party regarded by most Israelis as radically leftist, was the march's organizer, which might have kept many peaceniks away.
Of course it's an indication of low support: the election results testify to that.
Can you, in today's Israel, imagine 300,000 people (nearly 10 % of the population - truly amazing) taking to the streets to protest a crime (Sabra - Shatila) in which Israel was only indirectly involved?
Perhaps the fact that it was organised by the CP put some people off: well, it shouldn't; this is really what you could call a bipartisan issue.
Israel has veered to the Right and for a whole variety of reasons the Right isn't that much in favour of withdrawal (sorry - disengagement, oops - realignment? ;-) )
Parties calling for a two-state solution may not have won a majority, but they are still close to half of the Knesset. Also, polls indicate support for peace talks.
I can see an impressive number coming to a pro-peace rally, even if it isn't as high as 300,000. Every year, about 100,000 people come to the Yitzhak Rabin Memorial rally.
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