Peace activists have taken half in a protest in Israel’s third-largest metropolis, Haifa, demanding a ceasefire within the warfare on Gaza and the change of captives and prisoners between Hamas and Israel.
“That is the primary time we’re seeing this protest occur within the north,” stated Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Haifa on Saturday.
“It’s a protest with Israeli Jews and Palestinian Israelis, and it’s important due to the 2 coming collectively.
“The message right here is to finish the warfare and that they’ll solely reside peacefully facet by facet with a political resolution for the Palestinians,” she stated.
Omri Evron, a member of the Communist Get together of Israel, who helped organise the anti-war protest, spoke to Al Jazeera in regards to the message the protesters have been hoping to convey.
“The killing of 1000’s and 1000’s of Palestinians, the overwhelming majority of whom are harmless civilians, is just not solely reprehensible, it doesn’t serve the safety of the folks of Israel. It doesn’t deliver us safety, it solely ensures the subsequent bloodbath, the subsequent cycle of violence,” he stated.
“At present, they [the protestors] are chanting “refuse to kill, refuse to battle, refuse to homicide” – that is our name.”
Evron admitted there have been difficulties in organising a protest of this type.
“It has been troublesome, not as a result of there aren’t Jews and Arabs who need to come collectively who imagine in a joint way forward for peace and equality and nationwide liberation of each folks in two states,” he defined.
“It has been troublesome as a result of the federal government and the police particularly have executed the whole lot of their energy to forestall us from coming collectively, to forestall us from voicing a lawful and peaceable voice. We needed to attraction to the Supreme Court docket of Justice simply to permit us to return collectively and show.”
Al Jazeera’s Dekker stated the protesters weren’t allowed to march, and officers stated the protest couldn’t be held at night time. However a number of hundred folks have been lastly capable of collect for 2 hours through the day.
