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Burlington Free Press
EDITORIAL Wednesday, June 16, 2004
Respect protests
When Israeli forces fired tank shells into a peaceful Palestinian protest
march they did not just kill 10 people, mostly children, and wound many others.
When the shells exploded among several thousand residents marching in Rafah in
Gaza on May 19, the army also wounded free speech and the right to assemble.
Few believed the Israeli army's claim it only fired "warning shots" and had no intention to harm civilians. Many other legal attacks on civilians and peaceful protests preceded this one. Such attacks have not suppressed the Palestinian desire to end the Israeli occupation. They have only suppressed peaceful protest and inflamed support for military strikes against Israeli soldiers and civilians. If not violently suppressed, the peaceful march in Rafah could have been followed by peaceful marches all over the West Bank and Gaza. As polls in Israel show that most Israelis want out of Gaza and the West Bank -- and 150,000 Israelis held their own rally demanding a withdrawal from Gaza on May 15 -- a peaceful campaign by Palestinians could link with the Israeli peace movement. A peaceful campaign of Jewish Israelis and Palestinians could change the political situation dramatically. The tank shelling nipped this possibility and keeps the Palestinians locked into military combat where Israel is much stronger. As an American Jew I call on Israel to respect the right to assemble and peacefully protest, to stop military attacks and house demolitions, and to bring its soldiers and settlers home now within its pre-1967 borders. JAMES MARC LEAS South Burlington
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