Here’s a link to the group’s most recent press release, at Sources.com. Here’s an excerpt:Toronto police have been called in to remove a group of Jewish Canadian women who occupied the Israeli consulate at 180 Bloor Street on Wednesday. The group is protesting the Israeli assault on Gaza and calling for an end to what they say is an 18-month long siege that has prevented the flow of humanitarian aid.“(They are) carrying out this occupation in solidarity with the 1.5 million people of Gaza and to ensure that Jewish voices against the massacre in Gaza are being heard,” the group, Jewish Women For Gaza, stated in a release.
Judy Rebick is a well known name up here in Canada, as a feminist primarily; she used to be president of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women. She’s now a social justice activist, founder of the popular progressive news forum Rabble.ca, and oh yeah, she’s also a prof at the same university where I studied journalism–Ryerson, in Toronto. Judith Deutsch is also an illustrious and prominent Canadian, as a scientist and peace activist.And of course, we know how Chavecito and Evo feel about this war. Looks like they’re in good company. Excellent company, in fact. I’m not Jewish (Wiccan here!), but if I could join this sit-in, I’d do it proudly. In a vicarious sense, by following news like this (very underreported, so’s you know), I am.The group is carrying out this occupation in solidarity with the 1.5 million people of Gaza and to ensure that Jewish voices against the massacre in Gaza are being heard. They are demanding that Israel end its military assault and lift the 18-month siege on the Gaza Strip to allow humanitarian aid into the territory.Israel has been carrying out a full-scale military assault on the Gaza Strip since December 27, 2008. At least 660 people have been killed and 3000 injured in the air strikes and in the ground invasion that began on January 3, 2009. Israel has ignored international calls for a ceasefire and is refusing to allow food, adequate medical supplies and other necessities of life into the Gaza Strip.Protesters are outraged at Israel′s latest assault on the Palestinian people and by the Canadian government′s refusal to condemn these massacres. They are deeply concerned that Canadians are hearing the views of pro-Israel groups who are being represented as the only voice of Jewish Canadians. The protesters have occupied the consulate to send a clear statement that many Jewish-Canadians do not support Israel′s violence and apartheid policies. They are joining with people of conscience all across the world who are demanding an end to Israeli aggression and justice for the Palestinian people.The group includes: Judy Rebick, professor; Judith Deutsch, psychoanalyst and president of Science for Peace; B.H. Yael, filmmaker; Smadar Carmon, an Canadian Israeli peace activist and others.
Hello Bina,
I just found my way over here from Simon’s blog.
Great post – and hopefully others will pick up this item up.
It’s no longer about who started it (was it ever?), it’s about bringing it to an end.
All the wrongs in the world can never make it right. (who dies with the most points wins – I think NOT)
Very true, Sassy. Although, if it WERE a matter of “who started it”, I’d still say Israel has bloody hands. They’ve been conducting raids on Gaza during the ceasefire–assassination raids, at that. It was an intentional provocation, and the result was predictable. We’re seeing it now. It’s good to know, however, that not everyone is standing for it. And the Jewish pro-Palestine/pro-peace angle is definitely underreported in the media. It needs to get out there, so that other Jews who feel alone in their opposition to this war realize that they are NOT alone, and don’t have to go along with the Israeli government line. They are in the best of company.
.. they are NOT alone
yip
Wow, this post makes me feel better about my life, which was seeming kind of torn.
Thank you!
I agree that “who started it” is a pointless question, but at any rate, you may find this link useful:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-kanwisher/reigniting-violence-how-d_b_155611.html
Bina, you seem to have a new reader in, like, Kuwait or Basra.
They’re in Kuwait. I’ve picked up one in Saudi Arabia, too…Riyadh, by the location.
Interesting post.
Ezra has all the Libloggers as being Hamas supporters. I should guess by his logic that all the women in the photo above are also Hamas supporters.
Well, in the manichean and oh-so-solipsistic universe of Ezra Levant, I guess anything that’s not with him, is against him…and therefore with the islamohomosatanowhateverfascists.
Nuance and subtlety are definitely lost on him.
Rebick, Deutsch (et al.) are disgraceful apologizers for Muslim aggression against Jews. The profound ignorance of not only these Jewish women, but also Becker and the other commenters is quite telling. Let me help enlighten you. Look at this little nugget from the Hamas charter: “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.” Israel must be allowed to protect itself. Speaking out against this right (especially when it is put into action), is indeed, hatred of Jews, even if done by Jewish women.
The Hamas charter is neither here nor there, so don’t bother dragging up that red herring. It is a known fact that Israel sponsored Hamas covertly in the 1970s as a strategy against the PLO and Fatah. Well, guess what…now they want to “defend” themselves against their own puppet. Don’t take my word for it–look it up. You may be terribly embarrassed.
And given what you posted here, you should be. The only disgraceful apologist here is YOU. No wonder you used a blatantly fake e-mail and didn’t leave your name. You may have convictions, but you do not have the courage of them. So proud you couldn’t even show your face, eh? Shame!
Bina, on a something else from an earlier post of yours: http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n126739.html
A very sensible piece by Jimmy Carter:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/07/AR2009010702645.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns
Depressing, if you have the stomach for this:
http://palestinian.ning.com/forum/topics/the-other-side-of-the-story
Oh my. That’s something for our nameless troll to be “proud” of, isn’t it.
These Jewish women put being human and seeking peace and justice in front of any state, and this is commendable.
For me it’s clear–an massively stronger military, aligned with a barbaric empire, strafing neighborhoods with bombs is criminal.
I opposed the Afghanistan and Iraq agression because I knew that tens of thousands of innocents would die–and the folks that opposed from the beginning were correct.
This agression is rooted in a desire to terrorize a civilian population into submission. The extreme emotional impetus behind this is a desire to wipe out an people, the Palestinians.
There is a slice of the Israeli population that sees it the way we do, and they are my brothers and sisters. They put human rights and decency ahead of merely being a mafia thug.