Skip to main content

Israel's merciless bombing of Rafah faced huge protests across the globe

By Harsh Thakor* 
With the numbers of the murdered in Gaza surpassing 28,000 people, Israel mercilessly conducted bombing to prepare for a genocidal attack on the displaced people in Rafah. Peoples of the world keep rose up like a spark turning into a prairie fire. 
Several Arab capitals paid host to massive demonstrations in solidarity with the Gaza Strip and denouncing of the ongoing Israeli aggression. In Ramallah, Palestinians demonstrated in Al-Manara Square in downtown in protest against the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip.
On the 3rd of February activists of Kampkomiteen took part in two demonstrations in Trondheim, Norway. In the first, it represented the labour movement and different solidarity organizations. After the rally, a march was held, in which slogans were raised such as “Intifada, intifada!”, “Occupation no more, open up the prison door!” and “Let the children live!” were shouted. In the evening, an action was staged outside a venue where the representative of Norway for the Eurovision Song Contest would be chosen, calling for boycott of Israel and protesting the participation of Israel in the ESC.
In Bergen a protests was held on the 7th of February against a meeting where a representative of the IDF and the Israeli foreign ministry took part. The police escorted the  meeting heavily, The  demonstration it condemned  the prime minister of Norway for calling  Israel “Norway’s friend” and Norwegian weapon monopolies providing weapons to Israel.
On the 9th of February in the Jordan Valley complex along the border to Israel, protesters demanded construction of an air bridge to Gaza to deliver aid, scrapping  of the Jordanian-Israeli peace agreement, the closure of the Israeli embassy in Amman, supporting the Palestinian national resistance and stopping the transfer of goods to Israel.
Demonstrations were also held on the 9th of February in Baghdad, Iraq, and in Ramallah, on the occupied West Bank, where slogans for the Palestinian national resistance were shouted. In Yemen, a massive rally was held in Sana’a. Rallies were also held in the cities of Ma’rib and Taiz.
On the 7th of February around 100 protesters blocked the entrance to Woodward manufacturing facility. The factory manufactures parts for Boeing, which are used in missiles and bombs used to murder the Palestinian people.
On the 9th of February Hillary Clinton’s speech was impeded  by pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University in New York City. “Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton, you are a war criminal! The people of Libya, the people of Iraq, the people of Syria, the people of Yemen, the people of Palestine as well as the people of America will never forgive you!” a protester shouted at Clinton, who was Secretary of State during the Obama administration, which is responsible for several war crimes and massacres in the oppressed nations. After the first protester was lifted out from the lecture hall, the speech was again interspersed by protesters multiple times.
On Saturday the 10th of February there nation-wide protests were waged again in solidarity with the Palestinian people engulfing 40 locations across the UK. In many protests, strong solidarity was offered to the Palestinian national resistance front and the collaboration of the UK in the war crimes was condemned.
In Belfast, occupied Ireland, Palestinian protesters disrupted a Sinn Féin event on Palestine, denouncing the Party’s support to the merciless “Palestinian Authority” and its plans to join hands with the US president Joe Biden for a St. Patrick’s Day event.
On Sunday the 11th of February 10,000 protesters gathered in front of the parliament in Rabat, Morocco to demand the ending of diplomatic ties with Israel. The protesters carried a huge Palestinian flag and banners with slogans “Normalization is treason”, “Stop the massacre”, “We stand steadfast with Al-Aqsa,” and “Down, down with the Zionists and Americans.”
In Medellín, Colombia, ICL posters in solidarity with the Palestinian people have been put up. Alongside them, posters for the 130th anniversary of the birth of Chairman Mao have also been put up.
Since last Monday, February 11, Israel embarked on an air attack on the south of the Gaza Strip, after having wipe out the northern and central area. Rafah, is now the central target of Israel’s indiscriminate attacks, where many displaced Palestinians were forced to flee after the destruction of the rest of the cities, which has left more than 28,500 dead in four months.More than 100 deaths have taken place due to airstrikes. Air attacks targeted different areas of the city with warplanes and helicopters with machine guns in the border areas. Meanwhile hospitals are paralysed due to the untold destruction and the blockade of food and fuel by Israel.
In Beirut, Lebanon, an organized march with the name “The Lebanon’s Flood in Support of Gaza” gathered hundreds of people in support of the Palestinian people to denounce the genocide against the people.
In Rabat, Morocco, on February 11, thousands of people took the streets again against the genocide in Palestine and against the normalization of the ties with the government of Israel, calling it “treason”.
Normalization is treason” and “Stop the Genocide” were some of the slogans on the demonstration in Rabat. In London, England, thousands of people demonstrated in Downing Street, at he Prime Ministers official residence is. In the protests, the demonstrators demanded ceasefire, encouraged by the Rafah attacks. During the protest, one activist was  detained because of “suspicion of inciting racial hatred over a placard”.
n different parts of the USA, the people has marched  the streets against the genocide of Israel financed by Yankee imperialism, which until now has financed Israel with more than 14 billion dollars and has caused the death of nearly three tens of thousands of Palestinians. In New Orleans, in the midst of the Mardi Gras holidays, protests sparkled with posters demanding the end of the genocide.
In London, England, thousands of people demonstrated in Downing Street, where the Prime Ministers official residence is. In the protests, the demonstrators demanded ceasefire, encouraged by the Rafah attacks. During the protest, there was one detained because of “suspicion of inciting racial hatred over a placard”.
In Berlin, Germany, new protests sprung with about 300 people assembling at the Brandenburg Gate on February 11 to denounce the attacks on Palestine. The protesters flung fireworks at the police, and hours later they also pelted stones and shouted when they tried to break the march. Eleven people were arrested, and 14 legal proceedings were enforced for invitation to hatred, violation of the Law on Freedom of Assembly, attempted release of prisoners, insults, dangerous bodily harm, damage to property, resistance and physical assault against police officers, and serious violation of the rules of peace.
---
*Freelance journalist 

Comments

TRENDING

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu.  He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

Gujarat agate worker, who fought against bondage, died of silicosis, won compensation

Raju Parmar By Jagdish Patel* This is about an agate worker of Khambhat in Central Gujarat. Born in a Vankar family, Raju Parmar first visited our weekly OPD clinic in Shakarpur on March 4, 2009. Aged 45 then, he was assigned OPD No 199/03/2009. He was referred to the Cardiac Care Centre, Khambhat, to get chest X-ray free of charge. Accordingly, he got it done and submitted his report. At that time he was working in an agate crushing unit of one Kishan Bhil.

Budget for 2018-19: Ahmedabad authorities "regularly" under-spend allocation

By Mahender Jethmalani* The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s (AMC's) General Body (Municipal Board) recently passed the AMC’s annual budget estimates of Rs 6,990 crore for 2018-19. AMC’s revenue expenditure for the next financial year is Rs 3,500 crore and development budget (capital budget) is Rs 3,490 crore.

Licy Bharucha’s pilgrimage into the lives of India’s freedom fighters

By Moin Qazi* Book Review: “Oral History of Indian Freedom Movement”, by Dr Licy Bharucha; Pp240; Rs 300; Published by National Museum of Indian Freedom Movement The Congress has won political freedom, but it has yet to win economic freedom, social and moral freedom. These freedoms are harder than the political, if only because they are constructive, less exciting and not spectacular. — Mahatma Gandhi The opening quote of the book by Mahatma Gandhi sums up the true objective of India’s freedom struggle. It also in essence speaks for the multitudes of brave and courageous individuals who aspired to get themselves jailed for the cause of the country’s freedom. A jail term was a strong testimony and credential of patriotism for them. The book has been written by Dr Licy Bharucha, an academically trained political scientist and a scholar of peace studies and Gandhian studies, who was closely associated throughout her life with those who made the struggle for India’s independence the primar...

Warning bells for India: Tribal exploitation by powerful corporate interests may turn into international issue

By Ashok Shrimali* Warning bells are ringing for India. Even as news drops in from Odisha that Adivasi villages, one after another, are rejecting the top UK-based MNC Vedanta's plea for mining, a recent move by two senior scholars Felix Padel and Samarendra Das suggests the way tribals are being exploited in India by powerful international and national business interests may become an international issue. In fact, one has only to count days when things may be taken up at the United Nations level, with India being pushed to the corner. Padel, it may be recalled, is a major British authority on indigenous peoples across the world, with several scholarly books to his credit. 

Covid response? How, gripped by fear and groupthink, scientists 'failed' children

By Bhaskaran Raman*  “Today’s children are tomorrow’s future”, “Nurture children’s dreams”, “A child’s smile is sunlight”. These are some cliches, rendered rather uninspiring through repetition and obviousness. However, for nearly 2½ years, society forgot these cliches, children suffered as science failed and groupthink prevailed. Worse, all of this has been swept under the rug.