Welcome to Our End

Protests Around the United States and the World
in Response to Israel's Military Action Against Palestine

Because so much news and photos of protests are coming in,
some are highlighted here and you can get to more through
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Dear All
Thanks for you encouragement to my friend and me , honestly we received your
e-mails with tears , lets work together to end the war against Palestine
State and it's Brave People .. Participate in demonstrations , marches , send
letters to you parliament representatives , to your countries leaders , to
editors of your local newspapers ... DO NOT SIT STILL ... MOVE .... do any
thing to save Palestine ...
Best regards
Abeer

April, 6th, Paris. More than 35000 people in Paris, against occupation, against war crimes,
no justice, no peace.
www.jerusalem.indymedia.org

Palestine Demo Ends in Stalemate with Cops
by Soph Delaney/ SF IMC • Tuesday April 02, 2002 at 11:16 PM
BERKELEY, April 2, 2002: On the same day as street protests demanding an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine exploded across Cairo, Egypt, and in Jordan, over 400 Bay Area activists gathered in Berkeley on behalf of the same cause. The protest, called by International Action Center, Middle East Children’s Alliance, and Jewish Voice for Peace, was also simultaneous to the Israeli Defense Forces’ stepping up their offensive in the West Bank.

While the protest began calmly, a tone of heightened urgency spurred by recent developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was obvious in the tone of each of the speeches given at the beginning of the demonstration.

Israeli national and member of Jewish Voice for Peace Ahmir Turkel said, “Both Palestine and Israeli have no future while the occupation of Palestine continues…. When my Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says that this is a war for Israeli independence, don’t believe him! This is a war to preserve Israeli colonies on Palestinian land…. This is about basic human rights.”

His remarks were echoed in Middle East Children’s Alliance representative Penny Rosenwasser’s statement to the crowd: “Only justice for Palestine will bring security to Israel!”

Each of the speakers pointed to examples of other protest groups—including pro-Palestinian protests happening in the Middle East, as well as the Israeli refusenik soldiers, who have said they will not serve active military duty in Palestine—both as beacons of hope and motivating causes for further action on the part of American activists.

Following the speeches, the demonstration marched on the Shattuck Avenue sidewalk behind a banner reading “Palestine Statehood Now,” to the corner of University Avenue, where the group occupied the westbound lane of traffic and proceeded to University and 6th.

Among those marching was Betty Larudee, 57, a Lebanese-American whose husband, Paul, 55, is currently in Palestine as part of the National Coalition for Peace. She said that he had been in the line of fire during an encounter with an IDF tank earlier this week, and although he escaped injury, his companions included a woman who suffered a gunshot wound to the stomach and a man who sustained an injury to his ankle after being hit with ricocheting shrapnel. Larudee expressed worry about the well being of her spouse but also said that her hopes remained high for Palestine to become “a nation with a voice.”

Berkeley police, who had remained nearly invisible throughout the protest and march, formed a line between the activists and the highway onramp located at 6th and University Avenue to prevent activists from marching onto the freeway. A brief skirmish then broke out between the police and protesters, resulting in the pepper-spraying of at least one anonymous man and the arrest of Xochita Johnson of Berkeley.

Johnson was booked on-site with a battery citation and released to the cheers of the crowd, who had established a stand-off with police forces in the intersection of 6th and University. She reported that police released her swiftly in an effort to convince the crowd to disperse, telling her that they “didn’t have the force to arrest everyone.”

Such police maneuvering remained unsuccessfully as the protest continued with an uneasy internal stalemate over whether to continuing marching via a different route, disband, or maintain position at the police lines. The indecision was in part over how best to express solidarity with Johnson in light of her arrest, as well as how best to use the dwindling opportunity of the protest to gain public attention.

But when Johnson herself addressed the crowd, her words seemed imbued with meaning beyond an immediate decision over the fate of the protest: “I came here… because Palestinians are being rounded up and massacred like black people under Jim Crow [laws], like Native Americans when the United States took the west, like the Nazis did to the Jews and Japanese!

“….Whatever we do, let’s do it with Palestine in our hearts.”

Protesters were holding position at 6th and University as of 8:30 P.M. this evening, over three full hours after the start of the demonstration.

The next protest of Palestine in the Bay Area will be the National Day of Action for Divestment, Tuesday April 9, at Sproul Hall on the UC Berkeley campus at noon.

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1. Activists burn posters depicting the U.S. and Israeli flags in front of the U.S. consulate in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, Tuesday, April 2, 2002. Anger on the streets of Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, was matched by government condemnation of Israel's attacks on the Ramallah headquarters of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. (AP Photo/Guntur Alphin)
2. Muslim activists sign a petition offering to travel to the Middle East to fight alongside Palestinians in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, April 2, 2002. Muslim militants in the world's most populous Muslim country are rallying to support the Palestinians in the escalating conflict with the Israelis. Sign rear says "Draft Post for Holy Fighters in Palestine." (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)
3. A protestor, who did not wish to be identified, shouts during a demonstration outside the Israeli embassy in Madrid Monday April 1, 2002. An estimated 1,500 people demonstrated against the latest Israeli military incursions into Palestinian Authority controlled areas. (AP Photo/Denis Doyle)
4. French activist of the French organization, "Mission Civile pour la protection du peuple Palestiniene", hold a Palestinian flag as they march towards Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat's destroyed headquarters in Gaza city, Gaza Strip, Tuesday, April 2, 2002. The group is a French pacifist organization promoting a tour in Ramallah, Jerusalem and Gaza Strip for a cease fire between Palestinians and Israel. The banner on the back reads: "Peace and Justice, Protection for palestinian people." (AP Photo/Marco Di Lauro)
5. Members of the Democratic Youth Front of India (DYFI) shout slogans during a rally near U.S. Consulate in Calcutta, India, Tuesday, April 2, 2002, protesting against Israeli military action against Palestinians. DYFI is youth wing of the Communist Party of India-Marxist. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)
6. A Turkish youth waves a Palestinian flag in front of a security barricade outside the Israeli embassy in Ankara while others holding Turkish flags and shouting anti-Israeli and anti-U.S. slogans Tuesday April 2, 2002. Some 300 Palestinians and Turks demonstrated against the latest Israeli military incursions into Palestinian territories. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici

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Lebanese students hold a sit-in at a Burger King fast food restaurant as part of a campaign to boycott American products, in Beirut April 15, 2002. A growing number of Lebanese have begun boycotting U.S. brands and products since Israel began its onslaught against Palestinian areas more two weeks ago. They are protesting against U.S.-backing for the Jewish state.

Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP)
10661 South Roberts Rd, Suite 202 Palos Hills, IL 60465
Tel: 708 974 3380 / Fax: 708 974 3389 /Pager: 1 800 916 8286
http://www.iap.org E-mails: iapinfo@iap.org OR iapinfo@yahoo.com

PRESS RELEASE - April 5, 2002
Contacts: Tony Murphy, Sara Flounders, Larry Holmes (212)
633-6646

10,000 MARCH IN NEW YORK TO OPPOSE BUSH/SHARON WAR ON THE
PALESTINIAN PEOPLE

ACTIONS IN NYC BUILD FOR APRIL 20TH MARCH ON WHITE HOUSE
Protestors Say U.S. Can't be "Neutral Broker" in Conflict

PHOTOS OF NYC DEMO:
http://www.nyc.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=22093&group=webcast
(From New York City Independent Media Center)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/020405/168/1d06j.html

(April 5, NYC) Today 10,000 people demonstrated in New
York City to demand an end to Israel's U.S.-financed war
against the Palestinians. Organizers with the
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, which called the rally, said
today's action launched a national campaign, the high
point of which will be the convergence at the White House
of thousands on Saturday, April 20. Other demonstrations
in the region included Patterson and Jersey City, New
Jersey, in front of the Israeli Mission to the UN and in
Brooklyn, New York..

Thousands marched through midtown Manhattan from Times
Square to the Israeli consulate. Friday's Times Square
rally - endorsed by a wide spectrum of organizations,
including Arab and Muslim groups, anti-globalization
activists, students, and civil rights organizations (see
below for endorsers) - ends a week of massive
pro-Palestinian demonstrations throughout the Middle East,
that have been joined in by rallies across the U.S., which
have been organized by a variety of groups and coalitions,
including in Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco,
Philadelphia, Washington DC (one initiated by the American
Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and another by Black
Voices for Peace), and many more.

"This was a rally to stand with the Palestinians and
against the bloody war Israel is waging," said Sara
Flounders, co-director of the International Action Center,
which one of ten national organizations that make up the
A.N.S.W.E.R. steering committee. "As such, it is also a
rally against President Bush, who is backing Sharon's
offensive all the way - he's paying for the weapons and
he's calling the shots.

"These demonstrations shows that Bush can't isolate Arab
and Muslim people with the threat of racial profiling. We
are all here today from many communities to demand an end
to the U.S./Israeli attacks."

"The next big step is April 20 March on the White House to
protest the so-called war on terrorism which is proving to
be a pretext to support U.S. military interventions in the
Middle East, the Philippines, Colombia, and in opposition
to the administration's attack on civil rights an civil
liberties at home," said Flounders. "Today thousands from
all boroughs in New York City came out for Palestine. On
April 20, many more thousands are coming to Washington
D.C. There they will demand an end to Bush the program and
demand money for jobs and education not war."

Partial list of endorsers for the April 5 NYC protest -
Al-Awda Palestine Right to Return Coalition, NY, NJ *
American Muslim Alliance, NY * Arab American Civic
Organization * Arab Muslim American Federation * Bayan -
USA * Committee for Justice to Defend Palestinian Rights
* Committee in Support of Iraqi People * IFCO/Pastors for
Peace * International Action Center * Islamic
Association for Palestine * Kensington Welfare Rights
Union * Korea Truth Commission * Mexico Solidarity
Network * Middle East Children's Alliance * Muslim
Students at NYU * Muslims Against Racism, Racial and
Religious Profiling and War * Nicaragua Network *
Organization of Iraqi Students in New York City *
Partnership for Civil Justice--Legal Defense & Education
Fund * Peace and Justice Foundation * School for
International Public Affairs Working Group, Columbia U. *
Students for International Peace & Justice