Israeli protesters demand end to 40-year occupation
TEL AVIV, June 5: “Forty years is enough,” Israeli peace activists urged on Tuesday as they staged rallies demanding an end to Israel's occupation of Palestinian land since the 1967 six-day war.
The demonstrations coincided with the anniversary of the first day of the 1967 war that reshaped the Middle East.
In Tel Aviv, around 300 people gathered for a protest in which organisers erected a duplicate of a checkpoint to show Israelis the “reality” of the occupied West Bank, dotted by more than 500 such roadblocks that impede freedom of movement and feed resentment.
“We have to bring the idea to the Israeli public that this occupation which has gone on for 40 years must end,” said Susan Lourenco, one of the organisers.
The father of a 10-year-old girl shot dead by Israeli troops several months ago said the protests were important because most Israelis don't know the conditions of the occupation.
“Actually most of them don't realise the reality on the ground,” said Bassem Aramin, 39, from the Anata neighbourhood in east Jerusalem. “Because of that, we must speak to the people and convince them.”
A simultaneous rally in Anata attracted around 1,000 Palestinians, along with a few dozen Israeli peace activists, with speakers warning that the Jewish state will not have security until it ends the 40-year occupation and allows the creation of a Palestinian state.
“The key word for peace and security is a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital,” Jibril Rajub, a senior member of president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party, told the gathering.
“We will pursue the road of peace but there's no peace at any price. The armed resistance is the legitimate right for Palestinians,” he said.
Earlier Palestinians staged a main rally in Ramallah, the political capital of the occupied West Bank, and further north in Nablus, where dozens marched toward an Israeli checkpoint, one of the most potent local symbols of occupation.
“We want to live freely and without checkpoints,” said Farha Ezzat, 62, at the Ramallah rally.
In the West Bank flashpoint town of Hebron, some 250 activists from Israel's main anti-settlement movement Peace Now urged an end to the occupation and continuing settlement expansion.
“End, end the occupation!” they shouted near the Tomb of the Patriarchs, holy to both Jews and Muslims.
“Forty years is enough,” “Stop the settlements,” “Two states for two people,” read banners held by the protesters gathered in a parking lot near the holy site.“Israel missed an opportunity during 40 years to get peace agreements with the Palestinians and the Arab world,” the head of Peace Now, Yariv Oppenheimer said.—AFP
