Chanting "Free, free Palestine," hundreds of people gathered in Seattle on Saturday to oppose the recent violence in the Middle East, mirroring protests worldwide that have drawn thousands as Israel has faced increasing criticism for its attacks on the Gaza Strip. Full Story »
Posted by Dwight Rousu
This is factual, informative coverage of a protest of Israeli attacks on people of Gaza, resulting in 400 deaths and a still climbing body count as the bombing continues. Good quotes are offered of various views toward the situation. It's good to see that rarity -- media coverage of protests to humans killing humans.
I sometimes wonder if there is hope for either of these peoples. They always think they have good reasons to kill each other and have thought so for over half a century. They have hardened their hearts and purposely passed their mutual hatred down to their children, making future prospects for peace dim.
Good account of the rally, not such a good account of the underlying issue. The most important missing pieces are the grossly unequal ratio of power and might between Israeli military and Hamas; the small fact that Hamas is the elected governing body of Gaza Strip, making it the official government of this "non-state" Israel refuses to recognize and has sworn to wipe out; and the humanitarian atrocities created through the blockade of Gaza by the Israeli government.
The protest was a planned gathering to stop the violence against Gaza and the Occupied Territories, and against the US complicity by blocking UN Security Council sanctions and providing taxpayer money to fund purchase of "state of the art" weapons to the Israeli government. I know many of the organizers and I was a participant. To me, the overarching message was one of the need for peace, not vengeance. After the Holocaust, we said "never again," and now, we are not only standing by, ... More »
In the crowd, Wendy Somerson, 40, a Jewish woman from Seattle, clutched a sign that read, “The State of Israel Betrays Jewish Values.” “We ... More »
Needs more discussion of the protest it allegedly is covering, plus more background. It's much better than nothing. See link below.
Most protests are not covered by the press, so this is an improvement in that it made the paper. As usual, the paper seems constrained to give many lines of print to one dissenter with relatively sparce quotes from the 500 who came to protest. Standard bias against reporting protests that counter the administration view.
This is an example of the problems in the middle east. Half the world away people have positions that add to the problems.
It's a good story and I am disgusted with the killing of innocent men, women and children, but we have to remember who started this terrible invasion. People are right to protest and the United States has to be better about things and stop supporting Israel no matter what and the Bush administration has failed badly. Just another one of their failures
I am 76 years old and I have watched the Arab/Muslim countries try to practice genocide on Israel time and time again starting in 1948. The Jews made that country bloom and before that it was truly a miserable wasteland for the most part. The horrible leaders of Iran and Syria and Egypt and all of the countries surrounding Israel are to blame for this continual assault on Israel and they couldn't care less about the fate of the so called Palestinians. Jews are Palestinians ... More »
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