July 23, 2006

Quick Report from the Israeli Peace Front

Gila Svirsky writes from Jerusalem: The peace movement in Israel has pulled out all stops to end this mad war.

Lots of groups are active, and we had a big joint demonstration last night - at least 5,000 people (though the media reported 2,500).  Marching through the streets of Tel Aviv with signs, "End the War", "End the Occupation" felt like a relief after the roar of pro-war-talk on all the media.
 
Women in Black held vigils last Friday throughout Israel.  The reactions from the street were quite violent and the police were out in numbers keeping onlookers (and on-shouters) at bay.  After our vigil, we read the list of 55 (!) locations [see list below] that held solidarity events this weekend.  Some were Women in Black and others organized by allied groups.  We felt greatly encouraged by this international solidarity.
 
I end with a short note from Hannah Safran of the Haifa vigil of Women in Black.  The women were shelled during the vigil, but they returned to complete it.  Later that day, under the newly formed "Women Against War", they again left their homes to protest.
 

hi gila, how are you? we are having a terrible day today. while we were demonstrating at our regular Women in Black square (30-40 people in all), we were bombed on both sides. it felt like being targeted from close. we had to abandon the vigil and look for shelter. we came back 20 min. later and completed the vigil on time. As we were traveling home, there was a second attack and we had to stop the car and look for shelter. When we came home we opened the newspaper to read letters of women from Lebanon. The devastation is horrific. Has Israel gone crazy or have we not noticed what a mad country we live in? It is 5:45 p.m. now and we had two attacks since then. I am off to our daily demonstration of Women Against War in front of the Foreign Office and all the foreign press. We will not be silenced. War must be stopped now. Every min. counts as people's lives are in danger. do all you can to stop this madness. only someone from outside can put pressure on Israel to stop. i have to hurry. be well and let's pray for better days.
love, hannah
Please continue to voice your protest throughout the world.

 
Gila Svirsky
www.coalitionofwomen.org
 
Demonstrations and Vigils held this weekend (or just before)
Albuquerque, NM, US
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Armidale, Australia
Asheville, NC, US
Baltimore, MD, US
Bay Area, CA, US
Belgrade, Serbia
Bellevue, WA, US
Berlin, Germany
Bonn, Germany
Burlington, VT, US
Calgary, Canada
Canberra, Australia
Cologne, Germany
Concord, MA, US
Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Farmington, MA, US
Göteborg, Sweden
Greece
Halmsted, Sweden
Kitchener, Canada
Lancaster, PA, US
London, UK
London, Ontario, Canada
Los Angeles, CA, US
Malmö, Sweden
Marseille, France
Melbourne, Australia
Minneapolis, MN, US
Montreal, Canada
Naples, Italy
New Orleans, LA, US
New Paltz, NY, US (near Woodstock)
New York, NY, US
Oslo, Norway
Ottawa, Canada
Oxford, UK
Padova, Italy
Piteå, Sweden
Paris, France
Pune, Marashtra, India
Rome, Italy
San Luis Obispo, CA, US
Santa Fe, NM, US
Seattle, WA, US
South Dakota, US
Stockholm, Sweden
Strasbourg, France
Toronto, Canada
Tucson, AZ, US
Switzerland
Turin, Italy
Valencia, Spain
Vienna, Austria
Washington, DC, US