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News :: Human Rights : International : Politics : War and Militarism |
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Boston Condemns Israel's Military Attack on Humanitarian Flotilla |
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by BDS Boston MA
Email: bdsbostonma (nospam) gmail.com |
04 Jun 2010
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Boston, MA, June 3, 2010 – Approximately 500 demonstrators gathered in downtown Boston on Memorial Day to protest the Israeli government’s massacre of unarmed peace activists aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, a convoy of ships bringing humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip in an attempt to break Israel’s 3-year blockade there. The following day, protesters staged a die-in in front of the Israeli Consulate to commemorate the fallen activists and demand an end to the siege of Gaza. |
On Monday, hundreds of people responded to a call for an emergency demonstration sent out only hours beforehand, converging at the corner of Park and Tremont Streets to express their outrage at Israel’s actions. Rally speakers included Jeff Klein, passenger on a previous Free Gaza convoy, and Husam Zomlot, a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University who was born in Gaza. Speakers and demonstrators condemned the relentless Israeli blockade of Gaza, which has put a stranglehold on the territory and caused multiple deaths from malnutrition and lack of access to health care. Many expressed solidarity with the Flotilla passengers and demanded an end to impunity for Israel’s massacres of unarmed civilians.
# See Photos Below #
After the rally, demonstrators marched through downtown Boston to Faneuil Hall and Government Center. Banging drums, chanting, and singing, demonstrators expressed their longing for a day when the people of Gaza would be free and demanded that President Obama end military aid to Israel. Because of the holiday weekend, the city was flooded with tourists who witnessed the action and took photos, some expressing their support for demonstrators’ actions.
The following day, more than a hundred demonstrators assembled in front of the Israeli Consulate and demanded that Israel be held accountable for its massacre of unarmed humanitarian workers and the 3-year siege of Gaza. Twenty of the demonstrators staged a “die-in” in the street in front of the Consulate to memorialize the slain activists, while the rest of the protesters condemned Israel’s actions and demanded that Israel be held accountable for its crimes.
Coverage of the die-in made the front page of the Boston Globe:
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/larger_view/?g_date=2010_06_02
Read one of the Globe’s stories about the action here:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/06/anti-israel_pro.h
Watch a video of local news coverage of the die-in here:
http://www.necn.com/06/01/10/Tensions-rise-in-Middle-East-over-Israel/la
The Boston demonstrations occurred simultaneously with hundreds of other demonstrations throughout the United States and around the world, including Barcelona, Cairo, Istanbul, London, and New York. These actions condemn Israel’s massacre of unarmed civilian and humanitarian activists and stand in solidarity with the people of Gaza, who remain subject to Israel’s brutal and relentless blockade. Through these protests, Boston also joins the larger, international movement calling for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it ends its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantles the Wall, recognizes the equal rights of Palestinian citizens, and respects the right of return of Palestinian refugees. Boston demands: end Israel’s impunity!
To learn more about the call for BDS:
http://www.bdsmovement.net/ - site of the global BDS movement; you can read the call for BDS here
http://www.pacbi.org/ - site of the Palestinian campaign for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/ - site of the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
Photo credit: skip schiel, http://teeksaphoto.org, http://skipschiel.wordpress.com
More pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/bdsbostonma/BostonProtestsIsraeliAttackOnHum# |
See also:
http://www.bdsmovement.net/
http://picasaweb.google.com/bdsbostonma/BostonProtestsIsraeliAttackOnHumanitarinFlotilla#
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This work is in the public domain. |
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