Israel invades Gaza, Palestinians, solidarity activists call for solidarity and resistance (updated Jan. 7)

The PFLP noted the mass response of the Arab people who have taken to the streets across the Arab homeland in support of their sisters and brothers resisting and beseiged in Gaza and called upon this resistance to continue and escalate. The PFLP further called for popular and armed resistance to the occupiers and invaders of our land to intensify and increase, so that as the enemy attempts to intensify its crimes in Gaza, it will feel the response of the resistance and the fire of the anger and determination of the people everywhere.

In addition, the PFLP called upon the progressive forces of the world to continue and intensify their actions and mobilisation against the Israeli crimes and the US and European complicity and support in this war against our people. The PFLP salutes the mass mobilisation in the cities of the world -- London, New York, Paris, Oslo, Brazil, Lima, Rome, San Francisco, Chicago, Mexico City, Bogota, Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur and everywhere -- and calls for the continuation of the pressure upon their governments.

The PFLP further stated that this is a historic moment and battle, and a fight for the existence of the resistance and the future of the Palestinian cause. Now is the time to meet this challenge, as the resistance is doing in Gaza and the West Bank, with all utmost action and mobilization throughout the Arab homeland and around the world.

Towards victory!

Now is the time for unity and resistance

By the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

More than 431 killed in Gaza and 2300 have been wounded in a series of massacres and crimes committed by the Zionist occupier against the Palestinian people in Gaza on December 27, 2008. 650 children have been injured and 75 women as part of the ongoing onslaught. The occupier has continually bombarded Gaza with missiles from Apache helicopters and F-16 planes throughout Gaza for over seven days.

Demonstrations have broken out throughout the West Bank and the Arab world in protest and outrage at the brutality and the nature of these massive crimes.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued a statement calling for the broadest resistance to meet and confront this aggression against the Palestinian people and to respond to these massacres, and for the unity of the resistance, and the unity of the Palestinian people, to greet the occupier with resistance, strength and steadfastness despite his brutal crimes. The statement stressed the urgent need for national unity immediately to confront the crimes against our people and to greet the occupier and its brutality with tremendous and unified resistance that is capable of shaking its foundations.

The PFLP statement further called upon all resistance forces to come together now and establish unified resistance front to coordinate and take up the challenge of these attacks against our people. It pointed to the responsibility of the United States for these attacks, as a strategic partner of the occupier, working hand in hand with its massacres and crimes against the Palestinian people, and as the source of the arms used by the occupier against our people. It also pointed to the complicity of the Arab regimes in these crimes, particularly the Egyptian regime, for its ongoing and active participation in the blockade and siege of the Palestinian people in Gaza and its meetings and discussions with the occupier about its plans for Gaza. These massacres are taking place because of Arab and international silence and active complicity.

The PFLP further called for the immediate end to any and all negotiations with this brutal occupier who plans massacres against our people and stated that if he will not end the negotiations immediately, Abu Mazen must resign now. The nature of the Zionist enemy and its dedication to the eradication of the Palestinian people is laid bare and clear by this series of attacks, calculated to cause maximum damage and human cost. For the past sixty years, there is an unbroken history of massacres and crimes against our people and this massacre today is yet one more expression of the nature of the illegitimate colonial state that has implanted itself on Palestinian land and continues to live on US support through massacres and crimes against the Palestinian people.

The statement concluded by calling upon all of its fighters and military branches to take the strongest actions and to resist the occupation and its massacres by all methods and forms of action and resistance, and by calling for the broadest solidarity on Arab and international levels, for people to come into the streets, demonstrate, march, and take action to declare that these massacres and crimes are unacceptable, that the Arab people and the world are with Palestine and the Palestinian people, and that they will not allow these crimes to continue nor for the Arab regimes and international regimes to be silently complicity or actively involved in the occupation's crimes.

The Palestinian people will greet these massacres with steadfastness, strength, unity and resistance and all of the crimes, massacres, targeting of civilians, residential neighborhoods, and schoolchildren and teachers will do nothing to crush the resistance of our people, the statement said, it will only ensure Palestinian unity in the face of this brutality which makes clear the true face of the occupier to the world.

From the Communist Party of Israel: Stop the Killing! No to the Siege!

January 3, 2008 -- The killing in Gaza continues. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, thousands injured, air strikes have caused utter devastation and entire families are left homeless. Civilians in the south of Israel are being held captive by a government which lies to them and abuses them. Destruction and death in Gaza will not ensure their future, but rather lead to more violence and killings.

Tomorrow (Saturday, January 3, 2009) two big protests will be held in Israel, by a coalition of peace forces and the Communist Party of Israel and the front Hadash (the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality) in Tel-Aviv; and in Sakhnin by the High Committee of Arab-Palestinian Citizens in Israel, both of them against the killing in Gaza. Together we will call out: Stop the Killing! No to the Siege! Yes to life for both peoples!

In these dark days, let us stick to our message: Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies! Our demand: A full truce and the lifting of the siege on Gaza NOW!

Israel has gone to great lengths to ensure that the world does not know the extent of its crimes against humanity inside of Gaza. In Israel itself, there are protests against this war on a captive people. Thousands have gathered to protest daily in Tel Aviv, West Jerusalem, Haifa, Nazaret, Um el-Fahem, Tira, Taybe and other cities. Citizens called up as reservists to prepare for a possible land assault on Gaza have refused service, risking jail. None of this is being reported in the US and European corporate media, which is largely "cheerleading" the Israeli attack, primarily by “evenhandedly” reporting on the attacks in Gaza and the rockets launched by Hamas into Israel.

As Dov Khenin, an Israeli Knesset member from Hadash and a leading Communist Party member, stated in an interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!, “Well, the most important thing to realise is that there is an opposition inside Israel to the war and to everything going on around right now in Gaza. This position is a Jewish-Arab one. On Saturday night, we had a demonstration in Tel Aviv of 2000 young people, mainly Jews, and there are a lot of demonstrations all over Israel of Jews and Arabs opposing the war policy of the current government. This opposition is growing steadily. It is very important to know this and to understand that there are other voices in Israeli society who (oppose) a war, and they believe there is a better alternative for Israelis and Palestinians alike.”

Yesterday, a group of Tel Aviv poets held a poetry-reading vigil protesting the Gaza operation in front of the luxury Akirov Towers, where Defence Minister Ehud Barak (and head of the Labor Party) has an apartment. Twenty young poets read anti-war works over a loudspeaker, calling it "a protest against the destruction Ehud Barak is wreaking on the residents of the south while he's sleeping in a comfortable bed on the 31st floor." Ibtisam Marahna, number 12 on the Meretz Knesset list, spoke at the protest, and announced her resignation from Meretz because of its support for the war.

Ten human rights organisations yesterday called on Defence Minister Ehud Barak to urgently renew an unlimited supply of fuel to the Gaza Strip. The groups, including B'Tselem, Gisha and the Association of Civil Rights in Israel, wrote that the massive destruction of infrastructure following the Israeli action will increase the need for fuel to operate "humanitarian equipment such as water pumps, sewage and the health system." The groups wrote that since Israel has been constantly reducing the fuel supply to the Gaza Strip since October 2007, a shortage should have been expected following the military action.

MK Mohammad Barakeh (Hadash) yesterday demanded from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that the Shin Bet security service stop questioning Arab political and leftists activists following protests over the Gaza operation. "If the defence establishment is worried about a wave of protests against the crime in Gaza, it is better to stop the crime and not persecute the political leadership and activists in the Arab sector", Barakeh said.

10,000 protest in Tel Aviv

Philippine government should sever ties with Israel

Stop the War Coalition-Philippines

January 5, 2008 -- We at the Stop the War Coalition Philippines, a broad coalition of civil society organisations, social movements, labour unions, political parties, human rights, women's, students, religious and other organisations, strongly condemn Israel's war crimes against the people of Gaza and the international community.

These latest attacks are not only disproportionate, they are completely unjustifiable.

At the root of the continuing tragedy in the Middle East is the continuing illegal occupation of Palestine by Israel. That Israel is able to continue this occupation and that it is able to bomb and kill indiscriminately without restraint points to the incapacity of the international community, including the United Nations and the world's governments, to uphold peace and justice. It is this unwillingness to act that will ensure that more blood and tears will flow from this escalating war.

We in the Philippines must help stop this war not only because thousands of Filipino migrant workers are caught in the crossfire but because we have a stake in creating a world with peace and justice.

We at the Stop the War Campaign demand that Israel should immediately end its war crimes in Gaza and end the occupation of Palestine.

We demand that the United States immediately stops arming and funding Israel's war.

We call on the international community, the United Nations and all responsible international government and civil society organisations, to stop Israel from continuing its attacks and to support a just resolution to the crisis.

We demand that the Philippine government begins the process of severing all diplomatic ties with Israel until it complies with international law and ends the occupation of Palestine. At the same time, we also call for immediate relief and evacuation plans for Filipino workers in the region. We demand more jobs for Filipinos at home so that they will not be forced to seek employment in outlaw states.

As our elected representatives, our government should take a stand in favour of international law and justice, summon the Israeli ambassador to protest, and expressly condemn Israel for its actions.

We demand that Manila and other government units revoke their "sister city" ties with Israeli cities.

We call on our parliamentarians and diplomats to likewise denounce Israel's actions.

In solidarity with the Palestinian, as well as Israeli people opposed to war, we call on trade unions, universities, cultural organisations, political parties, and other social movements and civil society groups to be part of a global boycott and sanctions campaign against Israel.

`Amandla intifada' -- Almost 2000 protesters in Johannesburg call for sanctions against Israel

By Palestine Solidarity Committee (South Africa)

January 3, 2009 -- Close to 2000 protesters chanting slogans such as ``Amandla intifada'', ``From Iraq to Palestine, occupation is a crime'', and ``Free, free Palestine'' gathered outside the United States consulate in Johannesburg to protest Israel's barbaric bombing of Gaza and to support a campaign for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel. The protest was organised by the Palestine Solidarity Committee.

Speakers included: Eddie Makue, general secretary of the South African Council of Churches; Bongani Masuku of the Congress of South African Trade Unions; and Melissa Hoole and Salim Vally of the Palestine Solidarity Committee.

Vally insisted that the demonstration was not only a condemnation of Israel's brutality but also a celebration of Palestinian heroism and resistance. He likened the resistance to ``the brave young women and men in the Warsaw Ghetto against Nazi occupation''. He described appalling living conditions in the Gaza Ghetto and noted that 80% of the inhabitants of Gaza were refugees. Vally said Israel planned this massacre six months ago and constantly provoked Hamas by, for example, arresting democratically elected officials and increasing the number of men, women and children in Israeli jails to 12,000. He acknowledged the presence at the protest of Somali refugees and asked for unity against xenophobia, support for the poor in South Africa and for solidarity with the people of Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Burma and Western Sahara. He called for supporting the goals of most Palestinians -- ``a single democratic state with equal rights for Jews, Christians and Muslims, and not a bantustan''.

Protesters endorsed a call for a campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel, as called for by close to 200 Palestinian civil society and political organisations. COSATU's Masuku said that was the best way for South Africa to support the oppressed Palestinian people. He also reiterated his organisation's call on the South African government to withdraw the South African ambassador from Tel Aviv, sever all diplomatic relations with Israel, and impose sanctions on that state.

Makue, who returned two weeks ago from an 11-city speaking tour of the US, where he also called for sanctions against Israel, emphasised that Israel is an apartheid state and pointed out that apartheid in any country in the world is a crime against humanity. He also insisted that the US and Israel must respect democracy and said that the legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people elected in a free and fair election in 2005 was Hamas.

Hoole pointed to the billions of dollars of support that the US provides to Israel and, in particular, to the Israeli military. She said the US was not only complicit but was an active partner in Israeli violations of international law. She called on Obama to prove that he believed in change by changing US policies towards Israel and to end its support for that racist state which is the largest recipient of US aid.

Protesters also expressed their disgust at Arab governments, calling them ``quislings''. Undemocratic and unelected Arab ``leaders'' have hypocritically sold out the Palestinian people and the struggle for Palestinian liberation, some said. In particular, fingers were pointed at the Saudi Arabian monarchy and Egypt's strongman Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak, it was noted, was briefed about the Gaza massacre days before it happened. They also mentioned his suppression of workers' struggles. As a result, protesters decided to stage a demonstration outside the Egyptian Embassy in Pretoria next week.

Among the protesters were some Palestinians, mostly from Gaza.

Other speakers included representatives from the Socialist Party of Azania, Virginia Setshedi from the Soweto Concerned Residents and the Social Movements Indaba, and Maulana Ebrahim Bham from the Jamiatul Ulama.

12,000 people rally in Toronto against the Israeli assault on Gaza

January 3, 2009. Demonstration against the bombing of Gaza,Toronto

January 3, 2009 -- At least 10,000 people gathered at Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square to protest against Israel’s recent assault on Gaza. Protesters then marched through the streets of Toronto to the Israeli Consulate and the United States Embassy. Demonstrators called on the Canadian government to condemn Israel’s latest aggression and to cut all political, economic and military ties with Israel until it complies with international law. Protests were also held across Canada in Ottawa, Winnipeg and Vancouver. Demonstrations are scheduled in Montreal on Sunday.

“We are overwhelmed by the support we have received from Canadian civil society, the trade union movement, and allies in the Jewish community. The large number of people on the streets today shows that the Harper government is out of touch with the Canadian public,” said Khaled Mouammar President of the Canadian Arab Federation.

As the protest was taking place, Israel began a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. This latest escalation comes in spite of international condemnation and calls for Israel to end its full-scale military assault on the people of Gaza, which has already killed over 400 people. It is clear that Israel believes it can act with impunity, and continue to commit war crimes against the illegally occupied Palestinian people.

"We will continue to mobilise and voice our outrage at the crimes being committed in Gaza until the Canadian Harper government publicly condemns Israel’s violations of international law", stated Farid Ayad, president of Palestine House.

Numerous speakers at the demonstration, including the president of CUPE Ontario Syd Ryan, local Jewish activist Jenny Peto and Rafeef Ziadah from Palestine House, urged the crowd to support the campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israeli apartheid. As part of this campaign, organisers called on the Canadian government to implement sanctions against the Israeli government until Israel halted its aggression upon the population of Gaza and fully complied with international law. Organisers further demanded that Canada insist Israel ends the siege on Gaza and open the borders to allow for food, medicine, water and other essentials of life.

The rally was endorsed by:
Palestine House
Canadian Arab Federation
Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid
Canadian Union of Public Employee (Ontario)
Canadian Union of Postal Workers
Steel Workers – Toronto Area Council
Toronto Coalition to Stop the War
Not in Our Name – Jewish Voices Opposing Zionism
International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network Toronto
Yosher – Jewish Social Justice Network
Women In Solidarity with Palestine
Educators for Peace and Justice
Muslim Unity
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East
Near East Cultural and Educational Foundation
Canadian Forum for Justice and Peace in Sri Lanka
Muslim Association of Hamilton
Canadian Druze Society
Canadian Syrian Cultural Club
Al Huda
Muslim Unity
Canadian Shia Muslims Organization
Worker to Worker Canada Cuba Solidarity Network
Somali Canadian Diaspora Alliance
Science for Peace
Bayan – Canada
Bengali Student Association
McMaster Muslims for Peace and Justice
Arab Students Association at Ryerson University

10,000 protest in Sydney, Australia

Pip Hinman, speaking on behalf of the Stop the War Coalition and a member of the Socialist Alliance, addresses the 10,000-strong protest in Sydney, Australia, on January 4, 2009.

Thousands march in Scotland

7000 march in Bremen, Germany

Photostory: World demonstrates for Gaza

The Electronic Intifada

January 3, 2009 -- Around the world people took to the streets outraged by the scenes of death and destruction in the Gaza Strip that began when Israel bombarded the coastal territory on December 27, 2008. The below images were sent to The Electronic Intifada from around the world and document various actions, demonstrations and vigils in solidarity with Gazans under siege. If you have images to which you hold the rights documenting Palestine, Palestinian life, politics and culture, or of solidarity with Palestine, please email images and captions to photos [@] electronicintifada [dot] net.

Cairo, Egypt, 30 December 2008. (Wissam Nassar/MaanImages)

Beirut, Lebanon, 28 December 2008. (Matthew Cassel)

Bethlehem, occupied West Bank, 30 December 2008. (Haytham Othman/MaanImages)

Helsinki, Finland, 29 December 2008. (Terhi Hilden)

Amman, Jordan, 31 December 2008. (Anonymous)

Chicago, US, 31 December 2008. (Maureen Clare Murphy)

Cape Town, South Africa, 29 December 2008. (Cape Town Anti-War Coalition)

Caracas, Venezuela, 29 December 2008. (Lainie Cassel)

London, England, 30 December 2008. (Fil Kaler)

Belfast, Northern Ireland, 31 December 2008. (Danny Morrison)

Dublin, Ireland, 1 January 2009. (Mohd Hafiz Hashim)

Mexico City, Mexico, 31 December 2008. (Jesus Villaseca)

Montreal, Canada, 30 December 2008. (Sabrien Amrov)

New York, US, 30 December 2008. (Anonymous)

Paris, France, 28 December 2008. (Azri Smail)

Nashville, US, 31 December 2008. (Anonymous)

Madrid, Spain, 30 December 2008. (Anonymous)

Istanbul, Turkey, 31 December 2008. (Erkan Saka)

Sakhnin, Lower Galilee, 1 January 2009. (ActiveStills)

Kansas City, US, 1 January 2009. (Kaitlin Roberts)

Denver, US, 29 December 2008. (Salah Issa)

Brighton, England, 3 January 2009. (Manuel Muriel)

Melbourne, Australia, 3 January 2009. (Margarita Windisch)

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2 January 2009. (Adi Hanif Mohamed)

Lyon, France, 3 January 2009. (Eric Colonna)