RALLY FOR PEACE, AGAINST ISRAELI WAR

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Boston, MA, July 30, 2014
At least one thousand people, some of them from Somerville, answered the call of the national organization Jewish Voice for Peace and gathered in Copley Square on July 22.

With signs, chants and songs, the protesters were demanding an end to the violence and the incursion of the Gaza Strip, denouncing what they called the “Israeli massacre” of Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, an enclave of about 160 square miles where over 1.5 million Palestinians live.

Gaza has been subject to a blockade by Israel for seven years, meaning that its residents live as virtual prisoners. Unemployment tops 34 percent and more than 80 percent of its residents rely on some type of humanitarian aid to survive.

Tensions between Hamas and the Israeli government escalated earlier this month after the kidnappings and murders of three Israeli youth, and then one Palestinian youth.

Since then, each side has attacked the other with rockets, but Israel far outguns Hamas, as the death toll shows: 53 Israelis, including three civilians, versus almost 1,250 Palestinians, most of the civilians, as of July 30.

“We are Jews who are standing in solidarity with Israelis and Palestinians,” said Somerville resident Lisa Stampnitzky, an activist with the Boston chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace. “This rally is calling for an end to the massacre in Gaza. It is also calling for an end to American aid to the Israeli military.”

The demonstrators marched from Copley Square to the State House, some chanting “Free, free Palestine,” and others holding up signs saying that Israel seeks peace. Several groups marched to represent civilians who have been killed in the airstrikes that have struck Gaza. There were also people present who said they supported the Israeli government and military action.

Martin Federman, also from Somerville and another member of Jewish Voice for Peace, said the organization was present to call on others to acknowledge the stark situation in the Gaza Strip.

“It’s not a protest against Israel or Israelis, but in support of the people who are dying in Gaza,” Federman said. “ And the terribly unbalanced incursion that is being presented in many ways as some kind of balanced war when it isn’t.”

Demonstrators also called for an end to U.S. government aid to Israel. Stampnitzky said Americans should be aware of what their tax money is financing.

“This is important because the American government is supporting the Israeli military to the beat of some $3 billion a year,” she said. “Because our money is funding those tanks and bombs, it directly affects us.”

Both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli groups in attendance condemned the violence. The July 22 demonstration was one of many across the U.S. No injuries were reported and no arrests were made, according to police.

For more news, see this article link.

Background on Gaza from the U.N.