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Gaza protest at South Station ends in arrests
By adamg on Thu, 03/07/2024 - 9:22am
Protesters calling for a Gaza ceasefire blocked Atlantic Avenue in front of South Station around 8:30 a.m. Not long after, Boston Police began arresting the protesters.
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Comments
Why Atlantic Avenue?
What opinions are you going to change there?
How about you go to Park Plaza and block access to the Israeli consulate if you are pissed at the Israelis? It's right there. It is common knowledge that the Israeli consulate is there. I know, I used to work in the ice cream store which used to be on the first floor. People from the consulate used to come in all the time.
Attorney Jim trying to get to work at Atlantic Wharf isn't the one who might have some influence over the Middle East situation.
The Government of Israel and their people appear to be the ones who could have a tad bit of annoyance done to them by some type of protest, not the guy from R.G. Mearn trying to deliver a ladder to a construction site.
I mean, if there was a problem we had with Italy, who have their consulate at 600 Atlantic, then, yes block Atlantic Avenue.
How fucking stupid are these protesters? Maybe they are just a bunch of self serving ballless wimps too scared to go up against the real enemy to their cause.
These little brats shut
These little brats shut Center Street in JP, forcing people already on bustitution because the orange line was shut down to have to get off and . . . I don't know what they did. Walk to the next bus stop? No bus was coming because they were all prevented from moving anyway. Really changing hearts and minds these morons are. What are the drunks on Center Street at noon on a weekday going to do to call a cease fire exactly?
To draw attention to their cause.
And to get otherwise apathetic people to discuss a ceasefire.
Mission accomplished.
I Talked With My Cat About A Ceasefire
Nothing happened.
People have been screaming at Israel for months to cut it out.
Like the Kennedys who pull out murdered uncles to justify their running for office, the Israelis pull out the Holocaust to justify their actions and there is nothing you can do, whether it is me talking to their cat or congressman is going to change their minds (though Steve Lynch seems to be doing something).
The President of the United States has been telling them to stop, and they won't, so blocking Atlantic Avenue or Centre Street isn't going to change things. Sorry for your optimism.
After that MIT taught pig Bibi spoke in front of Congress in 2015 and the told the US what to do and they better listen to Bibi or else, when we are their biggest donor, I knew the only thing which will stop Israeli expansion is to cut off the aid.
That's not going to happen. Sorry, they own a lot of Congress and the Gazans are screwed.
The more we talk about it. . .
. . .the more successful this protest becomes. Anyone wanting to discourage protests like this should ignore it.
Yup
I've been mum about my opinions about this online but... I agree with you John. I think we're in the same mindset here.
And I think its because we've been around the block a number of times to know better.
These two groups have been fighting for as long as I can remember. Yes it hasn't always been bombs daily to the Gaza strip, but its been happening regularly for decades. Every so often there will be a 'ceasefire' and a few years later, they drop another bomb or move the Palestinians somewhere else on the strip. And we're back to square one.
My point (like John's) is that these folks will never stop doing this, even if we beg them not too. They do not care. The hate for the Palestinians is strong..
And I agree the ONLY way to get them to listen is to cut off funding 100%. Because if you do, they will lose half of their power to perform those strikes. Much of what they use was given to them by the United States (or at least paid for).
But see.. this is the problem with cutting funding. Which I think people glaze over because they don't want to think about a military complex being the reason. But it is. The fallacy that people have with this is they THINK its "military contractors" that want us there to sell crap. And perhaps you might be right about that to some degree. But the bigger reason is this.
We pull of out Israel, it will destabilize that region even more so than it is. Israel is one of our closest allies in that region, without that.. guess who has a upper leg now? Iran. And we definitely do not want to give Iran an upper hand here, especially since they are in Putin's back pocket.
Its easy to say "oh I don't care about Iran".. but you should. Iran has access to get nukes via Russia. Iran COULD nuke the piss out of Israel. And that is far far worse than what is happening now. Yes really b/c the radiation from nukes could be felt as far away as Greece, Turkey, Iraq, and more. And that would be really really really bad. A far worse outcome than what's going in on Gaza.
It pains me to even say any of this because.. I AGREE there should be a ceasefire. I AGREE there should be no more bombings. I also AGREE we should pull our $ out of that region...
But I also know the realism of what might happen if we do and that is far worse. This is literally a 'rock and a hard place' sorta issue. No one wins either way.
For me, my biggest concern is not what's going on over there, but what's gonna happen here. We're on the cusp of authoritarianism here in this country, and that scares me a lot more than what is going on over there. Why? Because in 2 years, things here might be just as bad as they are here.
Remember when authoritarianism comes here, there will be no one here to save us. And there will be no one around to help save other people, like the Palestinians. We'll be too busy trying to save ourselves. Even worse, if TFG wins and then pulls out of Israel like he did Turkey, it will destabilize the region, and probably destabilize the world. And there will be no "US" to help stop the destabilization.
But I can't seem to get people to understand this..*shrug*
I am sure I will be flamed for this post, but whatever. It's just how I feel.
No reason to flame
You are right to think about the larger picture, including not just overall ME stability, but also what is happening here at home. There are much worse outcomes than the current state of affairs, and while the current state of affairs is repugnant, the US pulling out will almost certainly make things worse.
It's polarizing
And unlikely to draw any sympathy to their cause.
Want to do something effective? Plant 30,000 Palestinian flags on the Common and invite the media. Block traffic around the Capitol or White House (although these days that'll probably land you in jail for insurrection).
"You just cost yourself my support"
"You just cost yourself my support": favorite saying of those who never did anything for this cause, and never were going to do anything for this cause, and who are now celebrating the fact that they're now entitled to be sanctimonious about not doing anything for this cause.
While it's probably true that protests like this don't often change the hearts and minds of Joe Person driving by, they also don't drive people away. Those who weren't engaged with whatever the issue is, will continue to not be engaged, and that's it. They may be pissed off, but in terms of their actions, they will continue to do the same nothing that they were doing before. They're not suddenly going to get energized to throw their weight behind the other side; that would take effort.
I disagree. What I want to
I disagree. What I want to discuss is Why there and not the Israeli Embassy? as brought up earlier in the thread.
Wait, which side are bad guys
Wait, which side are bad guys here?
Emulating their Hamas heroes...
...these ignorant, deluded, coddled children choose to hold innocent people hostage. Glad they got arrested. Hope they get punished.
“Hamas heroes”?
Wait, a person wanting the IDF to stop slaughtering children means Hamas is their hero? Which of today’s protestors were expressing pro-Hamas rhetoric?
Demanding a ceasefire...
...without demanding that Hamas first release the hostages (or return their corpses) is pro-Hamas.
You sound enthusiastic about the "mission"
Perhaps the IDF can use your services in its campaigns. Instead of being a "coddled child" cheering on ethnic cleansing from the sidelines, consider joining up and killing Palestinian kids yourself!
And here come the buzzwords, right on schedule.
It's not ethnic cleansing. And to save you the trouble, it's not genocide either.
And before you get to the third slur in the anti-Zionist arsenal, you might actually be able to make a case for apartheid. Personally, I think quarantine is more accurate. As long as Gaza remains under Hamas control, Israel would be insane to open its border to sick, toxic, and hateful terrorists dedicated to the ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Jewish people.
Do you really not think Hamas
Do you really not think Hamas did not slaughter Israeli children during their attack on October 7th, 2023?
How do you think the United States would react if their citizens were ambushed like the Israeli citizens were? I'll give you a hint "Operation Enduring Freedom" October 7th, 2001,
You're comparing being stuck in traffic to being held hostage?!?
Good lord, have a little bit of perspective, please!
Comparing is not equating.
Nice use of italics though!
You're seriously equating a
You're seriously equating a dumbass, misdirected, obstructionist protest with murder, rape, kidnapping & holding hostages?
Asked and answered.
See above, the part about the difference between comparing and equating.
I think they forgot to
I think they forgot to coordinate media/publicity/online presence with the actual disruption - at least partially. Certainly, they could have done better.
I work a few blocks from there. The protest disrupted all sorts of traffic in the area, but other than people who were at "ground zero" and might have seen signs or heard chants/bullhorns... there wasn't much outreach. Police quickly diverted traffic from entering the area, including buses - with the side effect of those people never hearing or seeing anything.
The result in my office was most people not even remarking on it and one conversation that went: What was up this morning? Dunno.
Do Israeli or Palestinian lives matter more than African lives?
Uganda and Ghana are on their way to genuine work of genocide against gays and lesbians. Are gay and lesbians citizens of either nation less important? Of course not. So why they tremendous energy expended both for and against Israel and Hamas but not the same amount of energy expended toward genocides in African nations?
Might the fire in the belly arise from the same source as that which fueled folks to protest cultural appropriation at the MFA a few years ago? Meaning that both situations present easy targets for venting frustrations here at home.
We are an empire. Not in the sense of a Roman empire, But in the sense of being a nation where most citizens are pushed into feeling powerless. The majority of major institutions are now too large, too massive and too complex. It's one thing when one or two major institutions are too big. But when the majority of institutions are perceived to be too big, and big as a word understates the reality, and controlled by too few, the message regularly is the individual is powerless.
So putting energy into protesting an easy to identify target winds up being something that helps people who normally feel powerless, feel empowered for a change.
Do you think these things are mutually exclusive?
You know and I know that you can't quantify any such thing, but we'll let that go. The act of criticizing one genocidal regime is not mutually exclusive with criticizing another genocidal regime.
Are we giving Uganda and Ghana billions of dollars a year?
No. We are not funding and arming their hateful practices with our taxpayer dollars, nor do their crimes rise to the level of apartheid and now genocide.
There's your answer, sherlock.
These protestors really
These protestors really changed my mind. I had a lot of time to think while stuck in this protest trying to get to my job. These protestors are real experts on Middle East affairs and really care. I am certain many have PhDs from the fine institute of Harvard and are real brainiacs on the Gaza matter. Surely it was a diverse group of protestors and that roughly 90 percent were not white. If we could just get the memo over to Israeli govt I am confident they will stop defending themselves from Hamas. This would allow the oppressed Hamas fighters to take control the big scary powerful Israel. Those whites in Israel are really ruining things for the terrorists.