Hundreds of Arabs and Jews gathered on Tuesday, July 29, in front the US Embassy in Tel Aviv against the genocide and starvation in Gaza and for the recognition of Palestine. The protest marks the end of a three-day hunger strike announced by the High Follow-up Committee, the Arab community umbrella group in Israel. Among the protesters Mohammad Barakeh, a leading member of the Communist Party of Israel and head of the High Follow-up Committee, Hadash Mks Ayman Odeh, Aida Touma-Sliman and Ofer Cassif, and Hadash chair, former MK Issam Makhoul. At the protest also participated members of the anti-Zionist Haredi group Neturei Karta from Jerusalem and Bnei Brak.
Hundreds of Arabs and Jews gathering on Tuesday, July 29, in front the US Embassy in Tel Aviv against the genocide and starvation in Gaza (Photo: Zo Haderekh)
Police stormed into the crowd twice during the hour-long protest to confiscate a small sticker bearing the Palestinian flag and for arrest a young man from the front of the crowd. Protesters chanted in Hebrew, Arabic and English, accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza and the US of complicity in crimes against humanity.
Barakeh delivered a speech in Hebrew, declaring the protest to be “against the industry of death led by the US government and the Israeli government.” “Israel’s crime would go on for even another day were it not for the consent, push and support of the United States,” he says, as the crowd jeers. “The US is responsible for every drop of Palestinian blood being spilled in the Gaza Strip.”
In an interview with Palestine TV on Monday, Barakeh explained that the hunger strike at the headquarters of the Jaffa Arab Affairs Association. He noted that choosing Jaffa holds special symbolic value, as hundreds of thousands of Gaza’s population are refugees originally from Jaffa and its surroundings.
He added that many delegations and individuals from the Palestinian community inside Israel, as well as progressive Jewish anti-occupation and anti-war activists, visited the hunger strike site, among them Academia for Equality and Rabbis for Human Rights. Barakeh highlighted the massive protest in Sakhnin last Friday and the weekly demonstrations in Um el-Fahm, Taybeh and other towns, urging widespread public participation. Barakeh called for united Palestinian, Arab, and international efforts to stop the genocide and alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people.
This move follows a recent visit by a delegation from the Higher Follow-Up Committee past week to Tulkarm and the Tulkarm and Nour Shams refugee camps, after which they returned with harsh impressions. During their visit to the Tulkarm and Nour Shams refugee camps, the delegation affirmed the unity of the Palestinian position against the Israeli occupation’s plan to eliminate the right of return by demolishing Palestinian camps and besieging Palestinian and international bodies supporting refugees. They called for discussions on practical measures to bolster the resilience of camp residents amid enforced displacement, according to a committee statement.
“The scenes coming out of Gaza are unimaginable to the human mind. Yet, the crimes do not stop in Gaza alone, even though they are the largest and most severe. The scenes we witnessed in Tulkarm and Nour Shams camps reveal that the occupation’s crimes have created catastrophic conditions for our people that defy reason, conscience, and humanity,” Barakeh said.
Summarizing the visit, Barakeh stated: “The Israeli plan to annihilate the rights of our Palestinian people, foremost among them the right of return, requires all our people and supporters to unite their efforts and provide all necessary resources to foil this plan.” He added: “This delegation was not only to show solidarity and learn about our people’s issues but also to deliberate on the practical steps required from us. We return burdened with harrowing testimonies about camp evacuations, the violation of all homes, and the distortion of their landmarks by dividing them into small residential blocks that facilitate military control after demolishing no less than 40% of their homes.”
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=32880
