July 23 to July 25 Activist including Answer, Free Palestine Alliance, Women in Black held a weekend awareness campaign in Palisades Park by the Santa Monica pier. Photos in this report are from the Zionist disruption attempt of Sunday the 25th. Accompanying the photos is a statement from an eyewitness, organizer information and companion articles dealing with the current situation in the region.
Statement from organizers -
In response to the international consensus in opposition to the Israeli Apartheid wall, and the International Court of Justice's recent decision determining that the Israeli Apartheid wall violates:
The rights of the Palestinian people.
The U.S. administration and the majority of Congress joined Israel by defying the world and supporting this
racist and colonial Apartheid wall.
Recognizing that the upcoming period provides an
important window to address the US policy.
The Anti-Wall Taskforce (AWT) was formed to coordinate all efforts pertaining to the proposed protest actions and Solidarity Fasts to be carried out in various cities in the United States and Canada.
Eyewitness Report Back –
I’d like to share a brief report and a public thank you regarding last weekend’s "tent of peace and justice" in Santa Monica.
The event started on Friday afternoon, and continued throughout Saturday and until Sunday afternoon. during this entire time, 10 activists fasted in solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters back home. the tent was set up in a prime spot near the Santa Monica pier and got great visibility by hundreds or thousands of passers-by. It included a mock wall with photos and information taped to it, an information table, and a projector and screen where documentary films were shown in the evening. Participants in this event held pro-Palestinian and anti-wall signs, and flyers were passed out. Various activists spoke on the p.a. system, and There was a candlelight procession in the evening.
The Zionists, as usual, arranged a counter-protest. They hired an airplane on all 3 days to carry anti-Palestinian signs in across the beach (a different message each day - one was something about arafat and terrorism, and others were about Palestinians teaching hate and sending their children on suicide bombings). On Sunday afternoon, they came out in full force, with many racist signs and many of their hardcore members. A lot of friction resulted, in many cases very heated exchanges, including insults, and at least in 3 cases that I saw it turned physical. we chanted pro-palestinian and anti-wall slogans; they chanted their racist slogans. (of course since we had the p.a. system, our voices were louder, although their numbers were comparable to ours).
I would like to thank all the organizers for a remarkable effort that they put in. the names that immediately come to my mind are those of xxx, xxx
xxx, xxx, the free Palestine alliance, and answer coalition. of course there were other individuals and groups involved too, but still the whole effort hinged on just a handful of individuals. They organized and implemented all of this, which entailed an enormous amount of physical
effort (I just showed up a couple of hours each day, and helped close down on 2 of the nights, without fasting, and found that quite tiring!). So I
think they deserve a huge acknowledgement from everyone who cares about Palestine but for one reason or another wasn't able to participate even partially.
Again, thank you to xxx, xxx, xxx, xxx and others for the AMAZING job you've done!!
Note: Individual names were removed, much of the information provided was obtained from the Women in Black list serve.