by Los Angeles Jews for a Just Peace
Saturday, Jul. 27, 2002 at 9:09 AM
khesed-ve-din@lycos.com 323-769-5282
Bombing of Gaza Unites Jews, Muslims and Christians in Protest Condemning US Military Aid to Israel.
Outfitted as Israeli Soldiers Jewish Group Stage "Checkpoint" Outside Israeli Consulate
LOS ANGELES (July 25)— Young people dressed in military fatigues with Israeli
flag pasted to their helmets, startle on-lookers as they enter the crosswalk,
with their cardboard M-16’ s raised.
Handing flyers to drivers stopped at a red light, the soldiers reveal that
they are members of Jews for a Just Peace (LA-JJP), staging street theater.
"Imagine you are one of 1,000s of Palestinians trying to cross one of the 100
Check-points sealing off the West Bank," the leaflet reads with a map
pointing out the locations.
On the sidewalk, nearly 200 Jewish, Muslim and Christian supporters chant,
"No more US dollars to kill Palestinian children." They are outside the
Israeli consulate to condemn Israel’s bombing of a densely populated Gaza
neighborhood and 35 years of occupation of Palestinian territories.
Waving Israeli flags several dozen counter-protesters across the street and
behind yellow police-tape, angrily shout, "Traders," "Self-Hating Jews," Death to Arabs."
"As a daughter of a Jewish family that survived the holocaust, I believe that
it is my duty to voice my dissent to the actions of the Israel," explained
Yael Korin an Israeli-born LA-JJP organizer. "We are constructing this
checkpoint today to draw attention to the daily humiliations that
Israel inflicts on the over three million Palestinians. "
"Like the F-16 air strikes that killed more than a dozen innocents in Gaza,
the checkpoints that Israel has used to divide and conquer the Palestinian
territories are all funded by our tax dollars," said Barry Trachtenberg, a
spokesperson for LA-JJP. "We urge the American government to stop
military aid to Israel.
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