January protests against Israeli assault on Gaza

Ottawa demo - 3 January (Saturday) 1 pm on Parliament Hill

There is info on this on the other thread, but this is more detailed and I suspect the other will be closed soon due to length.

RALLY AND MARCH TO

STOP ISRAEL'S MASSACRE IN GAZA
THE WORLD SAYS END THE SIEGE ON GAZA NOW!

GATHER AT PARLIAMENT HILL, OTTAWA
1PM, SATURDAY, JAN 3, 2009

Israel has launched an unprecedented wave of attacks on the civilian population in Gaza. Hundreds have already been killed, and Israel is planning further attacks, refusing international calls for a ceasefire. Thousands are expected to attend rallies already being planned for several Canadian cities this weekend, including Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver, as well as many other countries around the world. The protests
will call on Canadian Members of Parliament to denounce the massacre of Palestinian civilians being waged by Israel and press for an immediate ceasefire.

Despite claims to the contrary, it is Israel that broke the truce with its relentless siege against Gaza, which has created a humanitarian crisis there by depriving 1.5 million civilians of food, water, medical supplies, and
energy to heat their homes. Israel's aerial bombardment has already claimed 400 lives in just a few days, and further air assaults are threatened to be accompanied by a ground offensive into Gaza. We can save the lives of countless Palestinian women, children, and men if we raise our voices now.

ORGANIZED BY: The Association of Palestinian Arab Canadians (APAC), Independent Jewish Voices (IJV - Canada), & the Ottawa Palestine Solidarity Network. www.apacottawa.com & www.independentjewishvoices.ca

SPONSORED BY: Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA-Carleton), Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR Ottawa), Not In Our Name: Jewish Voices Opposing Zionism (NION), NOWAR-PAIX, Rassemblement outaouais contre la guerre.

Contact [email protected] if your organization wants to endorse the protest or if you are able to volunteer.

and for the record, i'm putting the blame for this outrage squarely on the transnational oil and gas companies, and their puppets in the US, EU, and elsewhere who have let this thing go on, again instigating a possible regional blowup, to justify more militarization, as we spiral down the fossil fuel race to the bottom.

the corps are so very good at doing this in every country.  we have to call them on it more. explicitly.

 

 

 

 

and with Duncan Cameron's reminder of Canada's trade fiascos, here's a quote from our Canada Israel Free Trade Agreement of '97, Chap. 3.

http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/israel/part2-chap3.aspx?lang=en

"(g) a good taken by a Party or a person of a Party from the seabed or beneath the seabed outside territorial waters, provided that a Party has rights to exploit such seabed" (3.13 Definitions).

This means that Canadian (and because of NAFTA, US) energy corporations have a direct profit interest in any 'success' an Occupying state might have in beating the offshore gas rights out of the Palestinians.

Energy corporations (such as those who used to employ Stephen Harper's father) would enjoy further profits, particularly in concert with another EU trade deal that Harper is also pushing.

I already posted the info from facebook about the Vancouver Palestine rally tomorrow, in one of the earlier Gaza threads, but I'll repost it here in the thread dedicated to Palestine solidarity actions this weekend.

 

END THE SIEGE ON GAZA! PROTEST ISRAELI WAR CRIMES !

---------------------

Saturday Jan 3 @ 1 pm
Vancouver Art Gallery (Robson side - (corner Hornby)

---------------------

Hundreds
came out in the rain, sleet and snow on Monday Dec 29th to show our
solidarity with the people of Gaza. We're mobilizing again for Saturday
Jan 3rd, 1pm at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Please come out rain, snow
or shine to demonstrate your outrage and our collective humanity in
response to the latest massacre of Palestinians.

*** Article (including 34 photos) from Dec 29th protest:
http://www.straight.com/article-177783/protesters-rally-vancouver-against-israel%3F%3Fs-gaza-attacks

*** Mainstream news from the Province:
http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=7832a374-dc9e-4079-9b83-eaa9eff2ae8e

*** Video from Dec 29th protest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TATYHJiLOL4

*** Press TV coverage of Dec 29th:
mms://217.218.67.244/presstv/20081230/OUTPUT_10-03-00-FTP-ZAHRA-VANCOUVER.wmv

At
least 300 Palestinians have been killed and over 1400 injured in the
latest Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, while the threat for further
bloodshed still hangs heavily as air strikes continue. This is the
single largest massacre in Gaza since Israel illegally occupied Gaza in
1967, many among the dead are civilians and the numbers keeps mounting.
The Israeli state shows no sign of halting its assault anytime soon as
they have begun to amass tanks and ground assault military vehicles on
the border with Gaza. Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, has stated
that, "the operation will last as long as necessary".

Israel’s
latest massacre in Gaza occurs with official US and Canadian complicity
towards Israel’s illegal siege and ongoing sanctions over the civilian
population in Gaza. Over the past two years the Gaza Strip has been
undergoing the daily violence of a wide-ranging humanitarian
catastrophe triggered by severely reduced access to energy, food, and
medicines. In effect, Gaza is the world’s largest open air prison.

Join
us in Vancouver as people of conscience to stand in solidarity with the
Palestinian people of Gaza and to demand an end to the siege of Gaza
and Israeli apartheid.

==> TAKE ACTION!!!

1) Email the prime minister, foreign affairs minister, and leaders of the opposition. Visit:
http://www.cjpme.ca/action_gaza_2008_12.shtml

2) Respond to biased media coverage. Visit http://letgazabeheard.wordpress.com
to send sample emails to the BBC, CNN, and Fox News regarding their
biased coverage and use those template letters to send to Canadian
media outlets.

==> LINKS ON CURRENT SITUATION:

* Photos from Gaza:

http://thephilistine.org/2008/12/27/the-latest-pictures-from-the-bombing-of-gaza/

http://ingaza.wordpress.com/

* Live from Palestine diaries
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/diaries.shtml

* The Gaza Crisis Talking Points by Phyllis Bennis
http://www.zmag.org/zspace/commentaries/3727

* Democracy Now interviews:
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/12/29/israeli_attacks_kill_over_310_in

* Gaza: Colonial Violence and Flawed Justifications
http://www.tadamon.ca/post/2373

*If Hamas Did Not Exist: Israel Has No Intention of Granting a Palestinian State by Jennifer Lowenstein
http://www.counterpunch.org/loewenstein01012009.html

* Gaza: the logic of colonial power in The Guardian
http://tinyurl.com/8sp9bf

* Israeli Slaughter, International Culpability
http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/20075

* Gaza massacres must spur us to action by Ali Abunimah:
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10055.shtml

* Israel's Wanton Aggression On Gaza
http://countercurrents.org/lendman291208.htm

* Current Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza:
http://www.freegaza.ps/english/index.php?scid=100&id=555&extra=news&type=55

==> TALKING POINTS ABOUT GAZA FROM COALITION AGAINST ISRAELI APARTHEID

*
Gaza is the world's largest open-air prison. 1.5 million residents are
packed into an area 45 km long x 10 km wide, while Israel controls
Gaza's air space and borders. Over 80% of the population are refugees
denied their legal Right to Return to the homes and lands from which
they were expelled in 1948. Israel also illegally restricts Palestinian
freedom of movement into and out of Gaza. For example, in August 2008,
Israel denied three Gazan Fulbright Scholars their basic right to
education by having their American entry visas revoked.

* Gaza
has been under complete siege since June 2007, during which time the
1.5 million people of Gaza have been cut off from sufficient fuel,
food, and medicine. Two weeks ago, the UN reported that Gazans were
living without power for up to 16 hours each day; half of Gaza's
population was receiving water only once a week for a few hours; 80% of
the water in Gaza did not meet World Health Organization standards for
drinking; the unemployment rate had risen to almost 50%; only 23 of
3,900 industrial enterprises were operational; more than 79% were
living below the poverty line; more than 56% were food insecure; and
patients with chronic illnesses such as cancer or diabetes could not be
adequately treated or cared for. (See:
http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_gaza_situation_report_2008_12_17_english.pdf)

*
Since 2001, fewer than twenty Israelis have been killed by Qassam
rockets. In three days, nearly 400 Gazans have been killed by Israeli
state violence. This is a ratio of 20 Gazan lives for each Israeli
life, with the death toll in Gaza certain to increase. In January 2008,
UN Special Rapporteur John Dugard stated, "a distinction must be drawn
between acts of mindless terror, such as acts committed by Al Qaeda,
and acts committed in the course of a war of national liberation
against colonialism, apartheid or military occupation. While such acts
cannot be justified, they must be understood as being a painful but
inevitable consequence of colonialism, apartheid or occupation."
Israeli and Palestinian violence can in no way be viewed as symmetrical
-- individual Palestinians have chosen to resist their occupiers with
largely ineffective home-made rockets, while the Israeli state, which
boasts the fourth most powerful military in the world, has responded by
collectively punishing the captive population that it illegally
occupies. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, collective punishment is
a war crime. As the occupier, the burden is on Israel to end its state
violence.

* Israel is an apartheid state. Canada must sever
diplomatic ties with Israel and implement sanctions against it until
Israel complies with international law. UN General Assembly President
Father Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann recently called for a campaign of
Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel, similar to the one
that ended apartheid in South Africa.

==> Organized by various Palestine solidarity groups.
For more information email [email protected]

** ENDORSED BY:
Adala - Arab Justice Committee
Al-Awda - Vancouver
Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign
Canadian Arab Federation - National
Canada Palestine Association - Vancouver
Canadians Against War
Canadian Islamic Congress BC
Canadian Muslim Union
Canpalnet
Code Pink Women for Peace (local chapter)
Independent Jewish Voices (Canada)
Indigenous Action Movement
Iranian Centre for Peace Freedom and Social Justice
Jews for a Just Peace - Vancouver
Muslim Canadian Federation - Vancouver
No One Is Illegal-Vancouver
Palestinian Islamic League - Canada
Salaam -Vancouver
Siraat Collective
South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy
Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights - UBC
StopWar Coalition
Students for a Democratic Society (UBC)
The Organizing Centre for Social and Economic Justice
Vancouver Socialist Forum
Voice of Palestine - Vancouver
The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist Leninist)

Too put it mildly, I have no particular fondness for the cpc-ml, but that is a ridiculously sectarian comment, Leigh.

I'm a socialist and an atheist. Should I want representatives of patriarchal religions, who have slaughtered lots of people, and oppressed women and lgbt people for centuries, excluded from this demo because they are no help to slaughtered Palestinians?

On the contrary, I hope people are rallying members of Mosques, Arab orthodox Christian churches, shuls of anti-Zionist Haredi Jews (who have foul things to say about women in their prayers) and other people of faith.

Everyone is welcome to demonstrate, as long as they refrain from anti-Semitic and other racist comments. I have no trouble with people shouting Allah Akbar, if that is how they express defiance, just so I don't have to do that or sing God bless anything or anybody.

in my inbox, just checked now, from CJPMO:

Windsor
Date: Saturday, January 3rd, 2009 
Time: 2:00-5:00 pm
Where: City Hall

Winnipeg
Date: Sunday, January 4th, 2009
Time: 2:00p.m.
Where: Manitoba Legislature

 

lagatta, there were no other political parties listed, and that one last minute, and it triggered a reaction based on some of my prior experience.  sorry if it offends you.  in my opinion, it needed to be said, as your comments needed to be said as well.

 

 

Ghislaine, we're protesting a Massacre. 

A MASSACRE.

once again, people are protesting A MASSACRE OF 8 DAYS OF BOMBING OF ENTRAPPED PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE WHILE CLUSTER BOMBS ARE DROPPED EVERY 20 MINUTES ON THEIR HOMES, SCHOOLS, MEDICAL CLINICS, INFRASTRUCTURE, AFTER OVER A YEAR OF TOTAL SEIGE WITH NO FOOD, WATER, MEDICINE, ELECTRICITY IN THE WORLD"S LARGEST ILLEGAL PRISON. GUANTANAMO EAST.

 

 

Québec solidaire has taken part in all the demos here. Once again, Dr Amir Khadir, MNA for Mercier, took part in a well-attended vigil on Friday, organised (as usual) by Palestinians and Jews United/Palestiniens et Juifs unis - PAJU, outside Indigo Books on Ste-Catherine.

La Presse of course insists on giving "equal time" to the Zionist Québec-Israël committee, but they only got five people out for their counter-vigil, though many students could have easily sauntered over from McGill or Concordia.

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/national/200812/31/01...

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/national/200901/03/01...

Leigh, I'm no fan of cpc-ml either, but I don't think this is a thread for going into either the history of that (rather sectarian) group or whether Leninism inevitably led to Stalinism. This is the activist thread on organising.

Any reports back from demonstrations today?

They seemed fairly strong in Toronto and Ottawa - (hard to get any news from the Ottawa Shitizen)...

Unionist wrote:

Ghislaine wrote:

Are there any protests planned to condemn Hamas rockets fired towards civilians?

Yes, there has been [url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/01/20091223547843799.htm... call for protests against Hamas[/color][/size][/b][/url].

 

Do any of these protests contain any statement against the rockets? 15% of Israel is now within range or the rockets. There is no warning given about where or when these rockets will fall. I would not attend any of these protests unless it anti-violence on both sides, rather than only anti-Israeli violence. 

Ghislaine if you want to start a thread on something different then do so, but stop trolling this one.

 

This is a tagline. It has nothing to do with the comments posted above. Just a tagline...really. Please disregard.

I think Ghislaine should provide the death tolls from each side.

Also, the Israelis are free to leave the targeted zone. The people of Gaza are captive.

Perhaps this should be another thread but I wanted to make a brief response. Bombing children who are captives deserves a strong response. This is not about religion at all, just aggression and defence.

Ghislaine wrote:

There have been less than a thousand Israeli air strikes since 2005 and over 7,000 Hamas rocket attacks in the same period. Perhaps we need a thread on possible peaceful solutions. 

How be you quit trolling now?  That would be lovely.  If you can't stay on topic, stay out.

Ghislaine wrote:

oldgoat wrote:

Ghislaine if you want to start a thread on something different then do so, but stop trolling this one.

 

This is a tagline. It has nothing to do with the comments posted above. Just a tagline...really. Please disregard.

 Does anyone know if the protests today had any statements of condemnation of Hamas rockets, violence and attempt to murder innocent civilians - or if the protests on the 5th will?

Who gives a shit, you might as well condemn Cool Hand Luke for getting a few punches in against the Prison Boss, while he is beating him to a pulp.

This is no more that insufferable and sickening denial of culpability on your part.

Cueball wrote:

Ghislaine wrote:

oldgoat wrote:

Ghislaine if you want to start a thread on something different then do so, but stop trolling this one.

 

This is a tagline. It has nothing to do with the comments posted above. Just a tagline...really. Please disregard.

 Does anyone know if the protests today had any statements of condemnation of Hamas rockets, violence and attempt to murder innocent civilians - or if the protests on the 5th will?

Who gives a shit, you might as well condemn Cool Hand Luke for getting a few punches in against the Prison Boss, while he is beating him to a pulp.

This is no more that insufferable and sickening denial of culpability on your part.

Or Billy Hayes for defending himself from that Turkish prison guard.

"Good morning my American friend. There will be trouble if you walk this way. A good Turk always walks to the right. To the left lies communism. The right is good. ... Oh I see,

The bad machine doesn't know that he's a bad machine. You still don't believe it. You still don't believe you're a bad machine? To know yourself is to know God, my friend. The factory knows, that's why they put you here. You'll see... You'll find out... In time, you'll know"

And there was some other stuff, too!

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v697/rabblerabble/1r9lpy.gif[/IMG]

The Rally for Gaza in Toronto, Canada on Jan 3/09 was very successful.

Here are some pictures from the rally you can use if helpful.  No
copyright.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/91521874@N00/sets/72157612075844961/

or in slideshow mode:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/91521874@N00/sets/72157612075844961/show/

humbleslave wrote:

The Rally for Gaza in Toronto, Canada on Jan 3/09 was very successful.

Here are some pictures from the rally you can use if helpful.  No copyright.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/91521874@N00/sets/72157612075844961/

or in slideshow mode:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/91521874@N00/sets/72157612075844961/show/

Thank you for that. It confirmed my suspicions that the coverage in the Toronto Star was biased to the edge of bigotry. The front page photo of the rally was a tightly cropped shot of three headscarfed Palestinians. Inside, another photo of a protester in Palestinian garb, along side a much larger shot of the reportedly smaller crowd of Israeli supporters - made to look massive in opposition, arrayed against a wall of mounted police officers.

Anyone taking their impressions from their reporting would assume that 'real Canadians' don't care about the massacre; that it is only of concern to immigrants and the 'chosen people'.

 

 

One of the posters is signed by the International Bolshevik Tendency. WTF is that?

Unionist - why?

Objective Observer wrote:

Unionist wrote:

Lard Tunderin' Jeezus wrote:

... that it is only of concern to immigrants and the 'chosen people'...

I'm going to respectfully ask you, LTJ, to not use that term ever again, whether in a serious or ironic tone, with or without quotation marks. Thanks.

Shadow moderating?

No, [s]Offensive[/s] Objective Observer, allies like myself and LTJ and others here are allowed to critique and remind and correct each other, because it's in a common cause. When the motivation is different - when we're on opposite sides of the trench - it's a different story. It's kind of a smell thing, hard to explain. It's also a matter of tone: B#.

Objective Observer wrote:

One of the posters is signed by the International Bolshevik Tendency. WTF is that?

Don't worry there is probably no substantive element of truth in any of the words used to name the outfit.

Lagatta, it's true I am not an advocate of violence - indeed, I spend an inordinate amount of time opposing that of men against women - but I am not an advocate of non-violence either. And I find it bizarre that we seem utterly unable to articulate - conceive perhaps - a way to STOP Israel, Washington and the transnationals from crushing the Palestinian people.

I see the only real, political, realistic attempt to do so, that of Hamas, through consequences, i.e. counter-violence, being haughtily condemned by some - whose agenda is transparent - but daintily side-stepped by the rest of us.

Could this be how how people felt when European minorities, then countries, were crushed by the Nazi regime in the late thirties, and other countries looked on in impotent shock? Except that now, guilting for taking on the choices of Jews Israelis Zionists right-wing Zionists is added in the mix?

And us being oh so smart...

It is to die.

Let us hope this can be an inspiration to the labour movement. The Québec labour movement does have a good history of moblilising for Palestine - I was at the big demo here arfter the Sabra and Chatila massacres, but has been slacking off of late. Admittedly still the end of the Christmas/New Year's holidays. Hopefully there will be more trade union presence at the demo on the 10th.

My take on Canada's response: 

BCC: federal Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, media, activists, JDL

Palestinian Canadians are learning quickly that Canada is not what it projects superficially.

The
unconscionable attacks of Israel on the people of Gaza cries out for
condemnation from countries that purport to defend human rights.

Canada is not among them, since Canada defers to the corporate war industry that conducts aggression for resources worldwide.

Canada supports US corporate aggression in the middle east, and Canada supports genocide against Palestinians.

No surprise to people who know of Canada's continuing
genocide-for-land against Indigenous Peoples here at home, but very
surprising to the naive who believe in 'Canada the wonderful'.

Something is very rotten at the core of Canada.

Note to young Canadians: Do not try to reform Canada by 'change
from within the system'. We tried, and the system will just chew you up
and spit you out. Ordinary Canadians cannot even attend a political
'rally' without a 'party' membership! We are not allowed to be part of
the political process unless we endorse particular dogma. Make no
mistake: ALL major political parties in Canada support the status quo,
and all seek to increaser their power from our current nominal
democracy to totalitarianism with unfettered power of parliament.

Instead, boycott and use other DIRECT ACTION methods to make it
impossible for the corporates to do their dirty business. Take to the
streets, lock up the banks and the stock exchanges so they cannot do
their dirty business, and bring down the corporate control of Canada.

We will never be able to build a humane Canada until this one is
destroyed, because the foundation of Canada is genocide, and Canada
supports genocide world wide.

grannysaga