Protest marches from US to Berlin call for immediate halt to Israeli bombing of Gaza

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By OLEG CETINIC and FATIMA HUSSEIN
Updated 6:35 PM CDT, November 4, 2023

WASHINGTON (AP) — From Washington to Milan to Paris, tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched Saturday, calling for a halt to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.

The marches reflected growing disquiet about the mounting civilian casualty toll and suffering from the Israel-Hamas war. Protesters, particularly in countries with large Muslim populations, including the U.S., U.K. and France, expressed disillusionment with their governments for supporting Israel while its bombardments of hospitals and residential areas in the Gaza strip intensify.

The Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war has reached 9,448, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. In Israel, more than 1,400 people have been killed, most of them in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the war.

In the U.S., thousands converged on the nation’s capital to protest the Biden administration’s support of Israel and its continued military campaign in Gaza. “Palestine will be free,” demonstrators donning black and white keffiyehs chanted as an enormous Palestinian flag was unfurled by a crowd that filled Pennsylvania Avenue — the street leading up to the White House.




Read more: https://apnews.com/article/israel-gaza-palestinians-protests-europe-193a9aaca97df2c5c6a515f756a40a34

[msongs]

1. expensive looking signs. obviously not a spontaneous protest nt

[Big Blue Marble]

2. It is the energy of the protests,

not the look of the signs that matter. And the energies are strong and the feelings deep.

Many people around the world from Berlin to Seoul cannot bear the suffering that is occurring in Gaza.

[TexasDem69]

3. The suffering in Gaza caused by Hamas

Can be fixed by Hamas. Release all hostages, turn over all the individuals who murdered women and children in their homes or murdered civilians at concerts. Once that happens, a ceasefire seems reasonable

[Big Blue Marble]

6. Many in the world see the US bombs dropping on schools, hospitals, and refugee camps.from Israeli planes.

The 100,000'a in the streets of the world realize that suffering stops when the bombing stops
and food and water are delivered to a million children in Gaza regardless of military objectives.

Thousands in Israel are in the streets demanding the government allow at least a pause to get
the hostages out and not keep risking the lives of the captured Israels.

Hamas has said it is willing to give up the civilian hostages If the bombing stops.

https://news.yahoo.com/hamas-officials-willing-release-civilian-182548801.html

[Beastly Boy]

8. Weird. How come so many people in the world don't see

missile launchers in schools, tunnels under the hospitals and armed terrorists in refugee camps?

[AnrothElf]

27. Thank you. I see Hamas. The willfull blindness and ignorance of some "leftists" is disturbing

Trump and Putin lucked out when Hamas gave them a new way to divide the Western left

[The Grand Illuminist]

69. I see it this way.

Bibi LIHOPed it- complete, divide the left- complete. Now in this election cycle is when the RWers are going keep this war red hot while they'll be linking pro Israel Democrats with Pro Palestinians Democrats to get the people voting third party.

[RocRizzo55]

48. Why not just

Send your military in there, find the terrorists, and get them, instead of destroying everything? IDF is destroying everything Palestinian, be it Hamas or not. I guess that some of us have no problem killing children to get to terrorists.

[Beastly Boy]

59. If it were as esy as this, it would have been dome a long time ago.

I don't know why you want yet another explanation for the obvious, but I will bite.

Far from destroying everything (this is just propaganda bullshit, and I will not get into debating your motives for parroting it) IDF are only destroying legitimate military targets, well protected in the tunnels and bunkers under civilian structures. Concurrently, they are sending their military in there, finding the terrorists, and getting them, and losing soldiers in the process.

Israel didn't put civilians in the path of Hamas military targets, Hamas did. There is not even a slightest doubt about it, and pretending the opposite is the height of cynicism. More, we know that Hamas is preventing the children from being evacuated. By calculated choice, they are deliberately and cynically causing as many civilian casualties as possible because it suits them. This is not Israel's choice, it is that of Hamas.

By definition, war has military objectives and casualties. The Geneva Conventions, recognizing this, prohibits mixing civilians with military targets and puts the blame for causing civilian deaths in such cases on those who do this, not those who are targeting military objects.

There is a simple analogy: if an evil man throws an innocent child into the path of a train, who is responsible for the child's death, the evil man or the train conductor? Then, imagine a bystander pointing his finger at the train conductor and yelling to the gathering crowds: "Look, the train conductor! Baby killer!", while the evil man is smirking and nodding his head, as he grabs another child to throw under the train.

If you blame the train conductor, aren't you leaving the evil man off the hook to throw more children under the train? Well, you will have to live with the consequences of your actions, not the evil man.

There is a term that is becoming increasingly popular these days: useful idiot. I see too many useful idiots taking control of the narrative. Stay away from useful idiots.

[Mr.Bill]

34. Many people in the Arab world

see Israel as our 51st state.

[RocRizzo55]

49. As they should

Their political action committee legally bribes most of Congress. A Congress who turns a blind eye to a lot of what they do.

[oldsoftie]

55. Many in the world are also led by dictators & think Russia deserves Ukraine.

Many in the world, and here in the US, are fools too.

[Celerity]

60. and yet you openly cheered on what would be, at best, massive war crimes, and outright genocide at worst

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143141182#post32

Funny thing that, how moral consistency gets arbitrarily defenestrated by some.

[Hekate]

12. This

[mzmolly]

20. Well said. And they might help people get out of the area.

Or let women and children who can’t leave, hide in their fucked up tunnels.

[womanofthehills]

65. Probably won't happen even if hostages are released-

Israel’s defense minister called Palestinian people human animals.

[EllieBC]

4. They could clearly bear Oct 7th though.

Oh and those lovelies calling for a ceasefire are liars. “From the river to the sea by any means necessary” doesn’t say ceasefire.

Link to tweet

?s=20

[RocRizzo55]

17. And the others

calling to rid Israel of Palestinians are okay?
Sorry, but the way I see it, BOTH sides are wrong.

[AnrothElf]

28. Well at least you found a way to feel morally superior to "both sides"

[oldsoftie]

56. Destroying Israel is official policy of the Palestinian terror groups.

Removing ALL Palestinians from Israel is not the official policy.

[RocRizzo55]

63. It WAS the policy

That changed in 2006.
Though it may not be official, I have heard Bibi, as well as others in the Israeli equivalent of the legislature say that it would be over when every Palestinian is dead.
Please don't ask me for references, just google it.

[Zeitghost]

70. Arabs make up 20% of Israeli citizens

There is no both sides here. Only one is intent on genocide.

[mzmolly]

21. Excellent

point.

[brooklynite]

9. But the suffering in Israel (and by the Israeli hostages) is okay?

[Big Blue Marble]

14. I do not speak for these people who are in the streets.

My hope would be that they grieve for the victims of Hamas in Israel, the people who are
trapped in Gaza and the West Bank and all powerless people who suffer everywhere.

Until we can move beyond our tribalism and recognize our common humanity and
capacity to suffer equally, we are doomed to repeat this fearsome drama of death
and destruction into infinity.

[oldsoftie]

57. Most of that "energy" is theater. Its visible in many protests

When you question these protestors, many of them know little about the history of Israel or anything else about the issue.
All they know is "Israel BAD!!!"

[Big Blue Marble]

61. Does it make you feel better to say that?

Then, go for it. You can choose remain in denial. As the death count keeps rising, the real,
deeply felt anger is rising. The international protests are nearly as big as the anti-Iraq war protests. and
will grow bigger as more children are maimed and killed.

I can assure you that the historical knowledge of many of the international protestors is
far greater than 90% of US citizens. And they do know of, at least, the last 75 years
of injustices to the people of Palestine.

It is not necessary to have a Phd. in Middle Eastern history to know that it is wrong to
starve and refuse water to 2.3 million people trapped in an open air pen while dropping
1000's of tons of explosions day after day destroying their homes, hospitals, and infrastructure.

[Big Blue Marble]

62. This video from the march in Washington DC on Saturday

shows the sorrow and passion of the protestors. You may call it theater; I do not
think they are acting. Watch it without tears:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/13211515

[womanofthehills]

72. When you see hundreds of images of dead & severly injured kids online everyday

It will give you lots of incentive to march for a ceasefire. Each weekend the marches get larger and larger.

[obamanut2012]

30. People say that about BLM, too

These were planned, anyway, but you can get a sign made at many Staples and UPS ayores asap.

[RocRizzo55]

51. In case you weren't aware

You can have them made at most Office Depot stores, with the print facilities. It doesn’t take long at all provided you supply the graphic.
You should try it some time, if you have the money.

[lapucelle]

52. Astroturf protests...N/T

[oldsoftie]

54. been that way for years; "AnswerCoaltion" has always been anti-israel

And their name is at the bottom of most signs you see here in the US

[womanofthehills]

64. A half hour is plenty of time to get signs made

I have a large photo printer and have made 4 signs on sticks in an hour for activist rallies & marches.

[AlexSFCA]

5. yep, no protests against Hamas of this magnitude - the actual evil

I am glad Biden is wise enough to stand firm with Israel until Hamas is eliminated. The antisemitism of it all is shocking and disgusting. The western world must stand united against this moral bankruptcy.

[Hekate]

13. This too

[Hieronymus Phact]

31. Yeah

Not a single protest against the continuous bombing of Israel for the last few decades.

[JohnSJ]

7. I assume they are also calling for the release of the hostages?

[AnrothElf]

29. LOL, no.

[wnylib]

10. Misdirected protests. They should be

protesting Hamas for its war crimes against its own people. Hoarding food, medicine, water, and fuel while fighting from behind and under civilian facilities.

[RocRizzo55]

18. And the cutting off of these same resources

by Israel is okay?
NO! BOTH sides are wrong!

[JustAnotherGen]

25. Both sides

Doesn't cut it for me.

Israel released the Palestinian workers yesterday that they were holding.

Hamas needs to release the Hostages and the perpetrators of the pogrom -

And that can be the level set.

As long as they are holding innocent people -

They get not one iota of both sides from me.

[RocRizzo55]

50. But they are still killing children.

I suppose that killing children is okay.

[JustAnotherGen]

58. There was an infant taken hostage

Did Hamas kill that child too?

It's bad enough that they are using innocent little kids as human shields . . .

They have made clear that they do not want a single Jewish person left alive in the world, but by putting their children in camps where they know their leadership is hiding out in tunnels underneath - they are shooting themselves in the foot.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-hamas-war-kibbutz-nir-oz-family-3-hostages-including-baby-boy/

Israeli authorities say about a quarter of the residents of Nir Oz were either massacred or taken hostage by Hamas militants during their rampage across southern Israel.

One of the hostages is believed to be Kfir Bibas, who is only 10 months old. His family say he was seized along with his brother Ariel, 4, and their terrified mother Shiri

Seriously - Hamas can't even give back these three?

[questionseverything]

68. We all agree hamas is evil

We can’t fight evil by doing more extreme evil

[JustAnotherGen]

71. I'm not doing evil

By encouraging Israel to fight for its life. Because - they are.

Also - there was an infant taken hostage.

Hamas could release him, his 4 year old brother and mom today. They choose not to.

Get back to me when they are at home.

An INFANT.

All of this is on Hamas.

[JustAnotherGen]

24. This

[Hekate]

11. The world has gone effing mad

[womanofthehills]

66. American Nurse who got out of Gaza

?si=-k6v7QsGHrQGmKob

Camp has 4 toilets for 50,000 people - children with massive burns and missing limbs released to camps & only given 4 oz water a day.

[questionseverything]

67. Watching this, I am in tears

It should be an op

[Roy Rolling]

15. The "Cradle of Civilization"?

The nearby and general area is referred to as “the cradle of civilization”.

If that’s so, then the parents are guilty of child abuse.

These children brought up in households taught to hate a stranger are the true victims. If they survive the bombs of each side, they hate the others. If the bombs are successful, they hate the others even more.

Unwanted and refugee children erode societies at their foundation.

That geographical area has been in a virtual war for over 3,000 years. It is a terrible example of how to do civilization…it isn’t civilized at all. it’s animal life, dog-eat-dog.

[Justice matters.]

46. all the way originating from tribal 'disagreements' over religion...

more or less from ones with the 'same' deities.

Sure, 'territory' is in dispute, but why can't religious people 'get along' with each other in peace?

[Farmer-Rick]

19. How can you march from the US to Berlin?

A lot of it would require swimming.

It's a very poorly written headline, which makes me suspect it.

[mzmolly]

22. Too bad that energy can't be used to get innocent people in Gaza

to safety, while Hamas is rightly eliminated.

[JustAnotherGen]

23. We need protest marches

Around the world demanding Hamas gives up the Hostages and perpetrators of the Pogrom/Massacre right now.

[totodeinhere]

26. Do the protesters understand that a halt to the bombing means victory for Hamas?

After the brutal and barbaric attack of October 7th what do they expect Israel to do? If they don't destroy Hamas Hamas will destroy them. Or maybe that is what some of the the protesters want. Some protesters have even celebrated the attacks of October 7th. How sick can you get?

[Hieronymus Phact]

32. Unfortunately continuing the bombing is also a victory for Hamas. They wanted this reaction.

It's too bad the Israelis don't see it that way.

[Mr.Bill]

35. Exactly.

Hamas doesn't give a shit about innocent people being killed in Gaza. That is actually part of their plan. They only care that more people hate Israel, and Israel is playing right into it. Hamas is playing the long game. They are training the young generation to hate Israelis and anyone who supports them.

And don't ask me what the answer is. If I knew I would have been elected President a long time ago.

[totodeinhere]

36. But isn't it illogical for people to hate Israel for simply trying to defend against terrorism?

The leader of Hamas recently said that October 7th like attacka will continue as long as Hamas is able to do it. So what choice does Israel have but to fight back? And so why do people hate them for just trying to defend their homeland from being destroyed by Hamas?

[Mr.Bill]

37. It's quite natural for people to hate

anyone who is dropping bombs on their homes and killing people without considering why. These people are not political geniuses, and they are not likely getting the same information we are. By the same token, I also doubt we are getting all the correct information either. A country that elects Donald Trump has no business criticizing other people's political stupidity. It's nothing short of a miracle that he didn't get us all killed, although there's reason to believe he might get another shot at it.

[totodeinhere]

38. This conflict was going on long before Trump arrived on the scene.

And long after he is gone from the scene and I hope that that happens soon, this conflict will remain. In the meantime Hamas will also continue to attack Israel unless Israel stops them. The truth is many of the demonstrators putting heat on Israel actually praised Hamas for their attacks.

[Hieronymus Phact]

41. The audience they're playing to isn't the one you live in.

Their audience lives in very media-controlled environments of repressive governments. The Evil Mass Murdering Zionist is a regular trope in state run ministries of information with state run media, and has been since before Israel was even a state. This is just more grist for that mill.

I'm personally against the aerial bombing campaign for this reason, it's killing too many civilians, It's ready made propaganda, and Hamas wants it.

Did Sun Tzu write: "When you find yourself doing what the enemy wants, stop doing it."
I don't think he actually wrote that, but if he didn't he should have.

[GoneOffShore]

33. Not only has Hamas vowed to destroy Israel, but all "infidels".

[Mr.Bill]

39. All the bad guys in the Middle East say that.

Laughable.

[GoneOffShore]

47. Listen to the rhetoric - it is what they say about anyone who is not their brand of Muslim.

[Richard D]

40. All infidels , ,

Is just about anyone reading this. When someone tells you who they are, believe it.

[SouthernDem4ever]

45. To the college student that says she stands with Palestine

Why not move to a country where you have no rights and live there in harmony with that culture? I guess it's much easier to deal with these issues in a democratic state.

[Sympthsical]

42. "Resistance is Justified" There it is

Ya know, if I were at one of these protests and saw this sort of thing, I wouldn't stay. I wouldn't support people who use this verbiage after what Hamas did, as we saw many people - particularly on campuses - do.

And I think if you see it and say or do nothing, if you don't point, shame, and condemn, that means you're at least ok enough to associate yourself with it.

So, people have that going on for them.

And why should anyone support that? If what happened looks like "resistance" to you, you may be many things, but I wouldn't count being liberal among them.

[SouthernDem4ever]

44. Seriously - none of them would protest the Hamas attack

If Israel hadn't moved to deal with it, no protest would have happened.

[IronLionZion]

43. My sympathies are for nonviolent civilians in the area who have no choice in this conflict

there are plenty of Palestinians and Israelis who don't deserve what's happening to them.