NEW YORK, July 9, 2010 (WAFA)- For the second time in just eight days, a leading Israeli political figure has a faced vigorous protest crowd in New York City, Adalah-NY reported.
Following last week’s picket of a speech given at the Russian Tea Room by former Foreign Minister and current opposition leader Tzipi Livni, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thrsday visited Manhattan and was met by over a hundred demonstrators, who chanted in objection to his appearance here and called for him to be prosecuted for war crimes.
Netanyahu, who met with President Obama at the White House on Tuesday, was in New York for a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations on East 68th Street, where the demonstrations were held. The speech was open to members of the Council on Foreign Relations, invited guests, and members of the media.
Thursday’s protest was endorsed by 19 organizations representing a wide range of communities across the city. Many of the same groups had organized last week’s picket of Livni’s speech here as well as other recent protests against Israeli military actions, including the deadly May 31 assault on an international humanitarian aid flotilla, and the attack on Gaza in December 2008-January 2009 which killed more than 1400 Palestinians. Neither the scorching heat, nor the presence of pro-Netanyahu counter-demonstrators waving Israeli and American flags, deterred the protesters from condemning Israeli policies and voicing support for freedom and justice for Palestinians.
The picketers carried signs that accused Israel of war crimes and referenced the numbers of civilians killed in recent Israeli military campaigns. They distributed leaflets quoting Mr. Netanyahus past statements in defense of the continued Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem and highlighting the rules of international law that the occupation violates. They voiced outrage at the news, issued in a report released earlier this week by the Israeli think tank Btselem, that Israeli Jewish settlements now control 42 percent of the land of the West Bank. They chanted slogans rejecting Israels easing of its three-year-old blockade and siege of Gaza as a token gesture, and voiced support of the Palestinian call for an international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel.
Describing the reason for Thursday’s protest, Dorothy Zellner of Jews Say No! explained, Netanyahu has come to our city to justify Israels routine and systemic brutalization of the Palestinian people. Israeli war criminals like Netanyahu and Tzipi Livni who visit New York need to know they are not welcome here: they will be met by New Yorkers of all faiths and backgrounds who are appalled by Israeli government actions that are paid for with U.S. tax dollars. Other organizers confirmed their plans for future demonstrations and protests against Israeli leaders. We are here to deliver a message to the government of Israel, that neither security nor retribution can ever justify the crimes committed daily against the Palestinian people, said Ethan Heitner, an organizer with Adalah-NY. Israeli war criminals need to know that when they visit American cities on propaganda speaking tours, we will be there to tell the truth about the occupation and the dispossession that Palestinians are suffering.
The Endorsers are: Adalah-NY: The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel; American Jews for a Just Peace; Jews Say No!; WESPAC Foundation; Middle East Crisis Response; Catskill Veterans for Peace; Judson Church; Committee for Open Discussion of Zionism (CODZ); Center for Immigrant Families;ICAHD – USA; Women of a Certain Ag, CODEPINK NY; Women in Black Union Square; Activist Response Team (A.R.T.); Regeneracin Childcare NYC; New York Collective of Radical Educators (NYCORE); Gaza Freedom March; National Lawyers Guild NYC Chapter ; and Brooklyn For Peace.
