Global Protests Condemn Gaza Attacks

(CBS/AP)  Protests against the Israeli bombardment of the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, now in its seventh day, have swept several Mideast capitals and other major cities worldwide as demonstrator condemn Israel's air strikes which have killed more than 400 and wounded about 1,700 others.

More than 10,000 Muslims marched through Indonesia's capital on Friday to protest the ongoing bombing raids in Gaza, aiming fake missiles labeled "Target: Tel Aviv, Israel" at the U.S. Embassy.

Men, women and children attending the rally in Jakarta organized by the Islamic-based Justice and Prosperity Party waved Indonesian and Palestinian flags and shouted "Allahu akbar," Arabic for "God is great."

Many wore traditional white robes and held banners that read: "Save Palestine from Israel, the terrorist." They marched to the U.S. Embassy, which was guarded by hundreds of police.

"President-elect (Barack) Obama, we're watching you," party leader Tifatul Sembiring told the crowd. "If you want peace in the world, change the U.S. attitude toward Israel, don't support
Israel."

Police estimated that at least 10,000 people were at the demonstration in Jakarta, but Associated Press reporters at the scene said the numbers were much higher.

Protests were also held after Friday prayers in other Indonesian cities, in what was the largest turnout since Israel began the operation last Saturday, intended to end weeks of intensifying rocket fire from Gaza.

The vast majority of Indonesian Muslims practice a moderate form of Islam. Although they support the creation of a Palestinian state, most oppose violence against Israel.

Iranian Protestors Label Gaza Bombardment A "Real Holocaust"

Emotions in Mideast capitals, where demonstrations began shortly after Friday prayers, were hotter. Similar protests have been held daily in Tehran, Cairo, Amman and Damascus since Israel launched its bombing campaign last Saturday, but these gatherings were larger - mainly because Friday prayers are a traditional opportunity for Muslims to assemble in great numbers.

In Tehran, a crowd of about 6,000 stretching for a half-mile marched from prayers at Tehran University to Palestine Square, chanting "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" and burning Israeli flags

They also carried banners reading: "Don't kill Children" and "Real Holocaust is happening in Gaza," while some vowed to "fight and defend Gaza."

Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of Iran's most powerful politician-clerics, said in a sermon to several thousand worshippers that an Israeli military defeat in Gaza would be a "scandal" for its government and that, even if the Hamas government there collapses, Palestinian "resistance" will only expand.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki warned Israel that entering Gaza "by land will be the biggest mistake of the Zionist regime." He vowed Israel would be "defeated" in a ground attack.

Iran is a major backer of Hamas, giving it millions of dollars. Israel and the U.S. accuse Iran of providing the Palestinian militant group with newer, more sophisticated rockets, but Tehran denies arming the group.

In his prayer sermon, Rafsanjani said Hamas had a new anti-tank weapon that it had not used before but would unleash if Israel ground troops move in, but he did not elaborate.

In Srinagar, capital of Indian Kashmir, hundreds of protesters fought pitched battles with security forces on Friday while protesting against the continuing Israeli raids on Gaza.

The protesters gathered outside the Jamia mosque after Friday prayers and burnt Israeli and American flags while shouting anti-Israel slogans.

Protesters pelted stones at the security forces who charged at them with batons and tear gas.

U.S.-allied Arab governments like Egypt fear that Hamas and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah are giving a foothold for Iran. They have been critical of Hamas - which took over Gaza in 2007 in battles with loyalists of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas - and of Syria for backing its allies Iran and Hamas.

Pro-U.S. governments have been wary about protests at home over Israel's Gaza assault, which Israel says is aimed at silencing Hamas rockets.

In Jordan, police fired volleys of tear gas and scuffled with dozens of protesters who tried to push through a barrier to reach the Israeli Embassy in Amman. A few of the protesters threw stones at police, but the security forces dispersed the group, arresting several.

Hundreds more protesters marched peacefully nearby the embassy, calling for its closure and the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador. Jordan and Egypt are the only two Arab countries with peace agreements and diplomatic relations with Israel.

Egypt clamped down hard to prevent protests Friday. Hundreds of riot police surrounded Cairo's main Al-Azhar Mosque, where a rally had been called, and scuffled with would-be protesters, keeping most from approaching.

At another Cairo mosque dominated by the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, police set up security checkpoints and inspected worshippers' ID cards. Around the capital, police arrested 40 members of the Brotherhood, which had called for pro-Gaza rallies.

In the southern Cairo suburb of Maadi, one mosque preacher called for holy war for Gaza and several protesters marched nearby, shouting: "Let us go to jihad," or holy war.

More than 3,000 people marched in solidarity with Gaza in the northern Sinai city of el-Arish, Egypt's closest city to Gaza. On the border, dozens of Sinai Bedouins raced around in cars in the town of Rafah, firing their guns into the air.

In Syria, some 2,000 marched in Damascus' Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, carrying Palestinian flags and chanting "Jihad will unite us," and later burned an Israeli flag.

In Sudan, thousands marched in downtown Khartoum from mosques to the main Martyrs Square, urging Muslims to jihad and denouncing Israel and America.

Small protests erupted as well in the Palestinian territories. In an Arab neighborhood of east Jerusalem, a group of youths threw stones and smashed large blocks while Israeli anti-riot police on horseback dispersed them.

Three dozen Palestinian women marched out of Jerusalem's Damascus Gate chanting, calling for revenge and urging Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to hit Tel Aviv with missiles. Police dispersed the crowd.

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, thousands demonstrated in solidarity with Gazans, calling for Palestinian unity and accusing Arab leaders of silence over Israel's bombardment.


Effigies Burned In Afghanistan

In the Afghan capital of Kabul, about 3,000 people gathered outside a prominent mosque after Friday prayers, according to police estimates. Men in the crowd threw stones and shoes at an effigy of President George W. Bush.

Kabul Police Chief Ayoub Salangi said some 250 Afghan police monitored the gathering to make sure it remained peaceful. No violence was reported.

A cleric who spoke to the crowd said Afghans supported a "holy war" against Israel, in support of the Palestinian people. The cleric condemned America's support of Israel and led the crowd in chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel."

Leaders at the Afghan protest asked the crowd for volunteers to help in a Palestinian fight against Israel.

Asadullah Shahid, a protestor, said he had gathered to condemn the Israeli attacks and "announce our support to innocent Palestinians."

Another, Sayed Mushtaba, said that all "Afghan youths will stand against Israel, America and Jews till the last drop of their blood and we will defend Palestine."

Meanwhile, in Moscow, protesters marched on Friday outside the Israeli Embassy in Russia.

Clutching Palestinian and Azerbaijan flags, the protesters chanted "God is great," as well as anti-Israel and anti-American slogans.

(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Russian police arrested some protesters, dragging them into police vans, before herding the rest of the protesters away.

Rashit, a Muslim from Moscow, said that children, women and old men were being killed in Palestine, and that while people around the world were protesting "we are banned from telling the truth."

In the Philippines, dozens of demonstrators gathered in Manila, carrying placards saying Israel is a "butcher of children" and accusing it of war crimes.

Organizer Reihana Melencio accused Israel of genocide.

"This is one of the strongest militaries on earth and attacking a people who can only shoot back some old rockets, sticks and stones," she said.


Preparations For Demonstrations In London, Los Angeles

In London, celebrities and politicians lent their voice on Friday ahead of a planned demonstration on Saturday, to condemn Israel's actions as well as Hamas' rocket-fire response.

The high-profile campaigners called for an immediate end to the Israeli operation in Gaza.

(AP Photo/Sang Tan)

Former Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox, former London mayor Ken Livingstone, comedian and writer Alexei Sayle, and human rights advocate Bianca Jagger were among the speakers.

The demonstration on Saturday, which is expected to draw thousands of people, will march on Whitehall to call for an immediate end to the violence.

Lennox said the issue went beyond religion, Jewish or Muslim.

"There has to be a place, ultimately, where people come to the table," she said. "How many more people will be slaughtered before we get there, and is this the way to go about it? I, absolutely, don't think so."

In Los Angeles, Palestinian demonstrators plan to rally today, as pro-Israel supporters hold their own protests.

The demonstrations come after hundreds from both sides protested in front of L.A.'s Israeli Consulate on Tuesday.

Pro-Israel demonstrators say they plan to rally today outside of the Federal Building starting at 11 a.m. PST.

Pro-Palestinian supporters have announced an emergency demonstration set for 4:30 p.m. outside of the Israeli Consulate. Supporters of Israel have also planned a counter protest at the location.

[gaye5]

When you confront Palestinians with history - they either run or call you a liar.
For example, the West Bank was Jordan and Gaza was Egypt prior to 1967. So where did Palestine come from?

the historical record is not. Books, such as Battleground by Samuel Katz and From Time Immemorial by Joan Peters long ago detailed the history of the region. Far from being settled by Palestinians for hundreds, if not thousands of years, the Land of Israel, according to dozens of visitors to the land, was, until the beginning of the last century, practically empty. Alphonse de Lamartine visited the land in 1835. In his book, Recollections of the East, he writes "Outside the gates of Jerusalem we saw no living object, heard no living sound?." None other than the famous American author Mark Twain, who visited the Land of Israel in 1867, confirms this. In his book Innocents Abroad he writes, ?A desolation is here that not even imagination can grace with the pomp of life and action. We reached Tabor safely?. We never saw a human being on the whole journey.? Even the British Consul in Palestine reported, in 1857, ?The country is in a considerable degree empty of inhabitants and therefore its greatest need is that of a body of population??
So why do these people believe that they own the land before the jews... There has been constant wars and different ownership of the land for centuries..

[gaye5]

Spot on shirajordan,
and
MrNrgmizer, Relatively few Arabs were in the region when the Jews returned in 1917. Shortly before then, the population of the Holy Land was estimated at about 650,000 permanent residents. More than 65% were Islamic (Ibid.). Only after the Jews established their nation in 1948 did the masses of these Arabic peoples feel drawn to this particular territory. The population of Palestinians swelled dramatically after the Jews brought about vast improvements in agricultural production. They established irrigation and re-introduced efficient means of agriculture.

Understandably, many took advantage of gainful employment provided by the Jews in developing the land and building a needed infrastructure for the tiny nation of Israel. These local laborers were called fellahin, or agricultural workers. Previously, the Arabs had only used primitive methods.
The Palestinians claim to be the ancient owners of Palestine. Yet we see that they only took possession of the land in the wake of the Turkish campaign through that region in about the tenth century A.D. The claim made by ancient Israel precedes this claim by about 2,300 years.

How ironic that these Palestinians accuse the Jews of depriving them of their home when the vast majority of them moved to Israel after the Jews reclaimed the land from desolation and ruin.

[gaye5]

MrNrgmizer, you are so funny, for one I am a New Zealander living in Australian, and two I have the brains to read both sides of the story..
And what right do you have to order another person off the site. Is it your way to be nasty to everyone who is not of the same thinking as you, do you realise that it is a type of bullying, so do you bully those around you every day..
You can only get along with others if you discuss things sensibly, this way we can all learn off others. There have been occaisions where others on here have pointed out where I am wrong and I have excepted that, and changed my views on that position but nastiness only causes the medicine to be bitter.
I feel very sorry for you that you dont seem to have the ability to discuss sensibly..
I would love to hear your views but not when it is full of hate.
Try reading a bit and see what history tells us eh..

[smallman5000]

I am a US Army SGT. and let me tell all of you Palestinians something, this war is your faults in the first dam place, If it was not for you all letting hamas a known bunch of terrorists into your country and especially letting Hamas bomb Isreal from inside of your country everything would be much better for all of you in Gaza right now, so it is your own dam faults. If you Palestinians would have kicked them out and lit a fire under there ***** Isreal would not have to light the fire under everyones ***** over there, but no, you are all to chicken to fight them. So Im sorry to say this conflict is your own dam faults.

[abrame]

YOU fool....Satan rules Israel since the day he was cast down from battle in heaven for the final battle against Jesus and his Holy Army of Angels....
Posted by MrNrgmizer

Bad news dude, the Christian Bible''s version of fallen angels is a totally bogus mininterpretation.

There are no fallen angels in the Jewish Old Testament.

You worship a false book.

[abrame]

Again I say if you build your home on my land, its a legitimate target weather its rockets or tanks.....the terror is forced living in Gaza by Israel.

Posted by MrNrgmizer

Terrorism caused the checkpoints.

Terrorism caused the Wall

Terror Rockets caused the embargo

Terror rockets cause the military action by Israel.

[shirajordan]

To all the people who sleep safely in their beds at night and have the audacity to criticize the Israeli government, this is for you:
None of you spoke in the past 8 years when rockets and bombs fell in southern Israeli cities, causing death and destruction without any provocation on our part.
What you need to understand are two things-
First of all, there is no functioning government in Gaza. The Hamas took over (in a military coup!) and they are running the show. The Hamas, in case you didn''t know, is a terror organization. Just like Al-kaida and Hezbollah. Israel is dealing with terror organizations all through its borders. Not with governments. And not with civilians. We have nothing against the Palestinians. Only the terrorists.
The second thing you need to know is that the Hamas is a very cynical organization which uses innocent women and children to fight Israel. They launch their missals from civilian''s houses, not from open fields or military camps, and when the Israeli army wants to destroy those missals launchers- sometimes innocent people die.

[shirajordan]

-continue-
They stash weapons; bombs etc. in hospitals, mosques, civil houses and schools exactly for this reason- they know that the Israeli army will not bomb those places. Over the years, they have dig tunnels between Egypt and Gaza to smuggle everything, including weapons which is being used against us.
The Israeli army has such advanced technologies they can surgically hit those places. And that is exactly what we are doing. The manipulations in the media, done by the Arabs are ridicules, at best.
Ask yourself- what would you do if your life was constantly under threat? Look at the map. Maybe that will help you grasp our geographic situation.
The purpose of the Israeli army is to defend. Not attack.
So next time you think about how miserable and poor the Palestinians are, and how powerful and evil the Israelis are- think again. Israel has left Gaza more than 3 (!) years ago- their chaos and fights among themselves are not our responsibility.
(Written by a left-wing Israeli who thinks terror should not win anywhere in the world).

[gaye5]

Israel risked it''s element of surprise by contacted it''s enemy noncombatants in advance to warn them of approaching danger even though Hamas, (which started this conflict with unrelenting rocket and mortar attacks on unarmed Israelis -- 6,464 launched from Gaza in the past three years) -- deliberately places its weapons in and near the homes of its own people.
First, Hamas figures civilian proximity to the rockets firing stations might help protect at least part of its arsenal. Second, knowing that Israelis have new precision weapons that may allow them to attack nonetheless, Hamas hopes that inevitable collateral damage -- or, if it is really fortunate, an errant Israeli bomb -- will kill large numbers of its own people for which, of course, the world will blame Israel.
The media with it''s highly skilled marketers are playing on our deeply felt national values of fairness, generosity and tolerance, has persuaded Americans with it''s one sided stories of the Israeli/Hamas conflict that this tiny little country of Israel with its population of only 5000 Jews and about 2000 others, is the evil in this saga even though this little nation is surrounded by very large Arab countries of trillions of Muslims who want to get rid of Israel and who hate it''s people.. It is almost the revisiting of the lies told by the media in Hitler''s days.. . If there is a God, I sure wouldn%u2019t want to be in the shoes of those who tell lies about Israel when they meet their God..

[gaye5]

Yet we see the Jewish nation taking in Palestinians who are injured and giving them help as well as 6500 tons of aid medical supplies and medication were conveyed through "Kerem Shalom" cargo terminal. This has never been done before that a nation has given such aid to their enemies especially ones who have been shelling Israel since 2001 with 6000 rockets. What is Israel suposed to do, sit and take it.. would you...
If you think that Israel should give all the land back especially as much of it was brought for a price higher than it was worth, then America should give all its land back to the Indians which they took off them for a blanket or beer..