Portland, OR – On Friday, September 2, Portlanders rallied calling for the arrest of the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. The protest took place at the intersection in front of Powell’s Bookstore on 1005 W Burnside Street, one of the busiest intersections in the city. This demonstration was organized by Portland for Palestine (P4P) responding to a call to action by the Anti War Action Network (AWAN).

The action was called to protest Netanyahu’s arrival in the United States to give a speech to the United Nations in which he called continuing aid for Israel’s brutal ethnic cleansing in Gaza. The majority of United Nations delegates boycotted his speech, leaving the chambers when he arrived at the podium. Similar grassroots protests to the one in Portland occurred in New York, calling for the arrest of the genocidal Zionist leader.

Lora Wilde, a member of Portland For Palestine stated, “Benjamin Netanyahu and the government of the settler colonial state of Israel deserve the full weight of the International Criminal Court. The settler colonial state of Israel has been committing atrocities against Palestinians for 100 years; they need to be stopped at all costs.”

There were around 40 protesters at the height of the rally, with the signature chant being “We want justice, you say how? Arrest Netanyahu now!” The response from the members of the community was overwhelmingly positive, with many in cars honking in support of the protesters' chants. Many people not initially coming for the protest joined in, creating signs or joining in on chants to end the genocide.

“There was a lot of love for each other and the people of Palestine, and righteous anger at the people perpetuating this genocide,” said Isabella Shepard, another member of Portland for Palestine. “There was overwhelming support from the surrounding people. Folks who wanted to offer support to us, symbolically as well as materially. We got many honks in support, as well as donations and people signing up to join. The people are waking up.”

The rally concluded around 7:30 p.m. and was successful in its mission to continue to keep Palestine in the minds of the people of Portland. There was some backlash by Zionist Portlanders, but their voices are getting drowned out by the overwhelming support of Palestine in the city as more people are made aware of the atrocities.

“There are folks that don’t respond to us or that yell at us, said Wilde, adding, “but those voices are getting quieter each time. The voices of the pro-Palestinian movement continue to grow louder and stronger!”

#PortlandOR #OR #AntiWarMovent #Palestine #Netanyahu #P4P #AWAN

Washington, DC – On Tuesday night, February 4, hundreds of protesters gathered at Lafayette Square, near the White House, to raise their voices and stomp their feet in opposition of the meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump.

Organized by Palestinian Youth Movement DMV, Md 2 Palestine, Party for Socialism and Liberation, and the Muslim American Society, the organizers united around the demands to arrest genocidal Zionist Netanyahu, the end of all U.S. aid to Israel, and no normalization of relations between occupied Palestine and Israel.

Netanyahu, the first foreign leader to visit sitting President Donald Trump, met to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire that paused 15 months of relentless genocide.

In their flyer and press statement to the public, organizers called the rally and march to “wholeheartedly reject all war criminals responsible for the genocide in Gaza and attacks on the West Bank.”

“Whether it’s Trump or Biden in power, Republicans and Democrats shamelessly demonstrate their unwavering support for genocide and the zionist entity,” the press statement read. “Despite mounting global isolation of the zionist regime, the U.S. empire and its leaders continue to grant them total diplomatic immunity and billions of dollars in stolen taxpayer money.”

“Right now, there is an international fugitive housed by a convicted felon,” the emcee began. “These establishments fear the people. They are afraid of the power that the people hold. It is not a slogan, not a saying, but the truth!”

Protesters then took to the streets, chanting “Trump, Bibi you will learn, by the millions we’ll return!” “Netanyahu why are you here, the ICC was crystal clear!” “Say it loud, say it clear, Netanyahu you’re not welcome here” and “IOF, KKK, MPD, you’re all the same!”

The energy of the crowd was militant and in steadfast support of Palestine. Before dispersing, the emcee issued a call to action for participants to continue to stand in solidarity with Palestine and demand Palestinian liberation.

“Not only are the 1.6 million Palestinians in Gaza determined to stay,” the emcee continued, “but the millions of Palestinians around the world in the diaspora are determined to return!” They added, “Ana Raja Raja!” Arabic for “I’m returning!”

#WashingtonDC #AntiWarMovement #Trump #Netanyahu

Joe Iosbaker of the Anti-War Committee-Chicago stated, “Netanyahu called for a war with Iran. That is the clear meaning of his speech. He wants to scuttle the nuclear agreement being negotiated. He said ‘Sanctions aren’t enough.’ He falsely accused Iran of exporting violence. Everyone knows that is Israel’s role in the Middle East.”

Meredith Aby-Keirstead, a leader of the Twin Cities Anti-War Committee said, “The groundswell of pressure from people across the country to say #skipthespeech showed that more and more Americans are starting to question the tight relationship between the U.S. and Israel. Netanyahu came to sell his hatred of Iran but it backfired.”

The U.S. is the main supporter of the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Palestine #Zionism #Netanyahu #MiddleEast

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said that Netanyahu’s policy of occupation, settlement and racism is based on attempting to buy time while pushing through new settlement construction and unleashing rampant settler terrorism, while relying on Palestinians and Arabs to serve as security guards for the occupation and settlers.

The PFLP said that US Secretary of State John Kerry’s “shuttle tour” is another means of covering up the policies and plans of the occupation and the implementation of the Zionist project on the ground, the dismemberment of the land and people and undermining of their national rights to freedom, independence, return and self-determination.

The Front demanded that the Palestinian leadership abandon any illusions that it will convince the US administration through appealing to it to change its support for the occupation. While the Palestinian people’s rights are guaranteed by international law, humanitarian law and United Nations resolutions, the US secretary of state is going about on rounds to recruit for reliance on negotiations and bilateral solutions with the US as a reference.

Participating in Kerry’s “shuttle tour” only serves US strategic and diplomatic efforts to shatter the region, ignite wars and suppress the aspirations of the people of the region in order to serve imperialism and Zionism. Rejecting Kerry’s efforts is necessary in order to break the shackles of dependency, tyranny and corruption and achieve freedom, social justice and human dignity.

#Palestine #Netanyahu #JohnKerry #MiddleEast

PFLP condemns official Arab support for new so-called negotiations

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine strongly condemned the decision of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee to support so-called “negotiations” with the racist extremist Netanyahu regime, emphasizing that this only gives cover to the Palestinian Authority, which pledged to the United States to return to these negotiations which are only damaging to Palestinian interests.

In a statement released on May 3, 2010, the PFLP emphasized that these negotiations serve Israeli and American goals only and not the Palestinian and Arab people, emphasizing that any such policy is destructive and deepens the split in the Palestinian arena. The Front's statement noted that this approach comes after all of the degrading slaps by the Netanyahu regime against even the PA, noting that any return to such negotiations gives cover for its escalation against our people and its policies of settlement and land confiscation.

The PFLP statement called upon the Palestinian people at all levels, inside and outside Palestine, at home and in exile, to reject these so-called negotiations, which serve only to attempt to humiliate our people and provide for the interests of the Zionist regime and U.S. imperialism.

Comrade Jamil Mizher, a member of the Central Committee of the PFLP, said that this decision by the Higher Arab Committee is a blow to the Palestinian national consensus against negotiations with the Netanyahu regime and its rapacious settlement policy. In a May 2, 2010 interview with Al-Alam television, Comrade Mizher emphasized that any return to negotiations means a reliance on the false promises of the United States, which sells only illusions and deception to the Palestinian people.

Comrade Mizher called for a serious stand by all Palestinian institutions to reject any such call, as it holds dangerous consequences for the present and future of our cause. He demanded an end to reliance on the US administration, which is a stratgic partner of the Israeli occupation, emphasizing the blatant racist actions of the Zionist regime, including the most recent military order 1650, calling for displacement and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank.

Comrade Mizher emphasized that this action reflects the bitter reality of Arab weakness in the face of the US administration, emphasizing that the US and Israel continue to plunder the land and impose new realities with impunity and Arab acquiescence. He demanded a complete end to the dead and stillborn Oslo course, after over 18 years of misery, and the need to build a political strategy that adheres to our people's fundamental goals and resistance against the occupation.

#Palestine #PopularFrontForTheLiberationOfPalestine #Netanyahu #MiddleEast

Netanyahu’s government includes Ehud Barak, who as Defense Minister in the previous Labor Party government masterminded the war on Gaza. The Israeli Labor Party, which is supposedly a left-leaning party, is about as leftist as George Bush. To make matters worse, the new foreign minister is Avigdor Lieberman of the racist, anti-Arab Yisrael Beiteinu Party and one of Time magazine’s 100 “Most influential people in the world.” He is also a former member of the outlawed Kach Party, whose founder, Meir Kahane, advocated the forcible expulsion of all Palestinians from all of historical Palestine. Time failed to mention this aspect of his history.

This triumvirate represents what will be undoubtedly be a continuation of previous policies of ‘population transfer’ and forced exile, a government determined policy to push more and more Palestinians off their land in the 1948 territories as well as the West Bank and Gaza. There are also dozens of laws in the 1948 territories that explicitly and clearly discriminate against the Palestinians who live there, especially in the criminal justice system, but also in regards to civil restrictions on buying land, building on already owned property, and even marriage.

In his first crack at prime minister a few years back, Netanyahu expanded illegal Jewish-only settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and has promised to continue to push Palestinians out of Jerusalem through continued land expropriation and settlement-building in the present and future as well. According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Netanyahu has also agreed to initiate legislation to deprive Palestinians of their citizenship and other rights in the 1948 territories, in support of Lieberman’s stance that all Palestinians who live there must sign a ‘loyalty oath’ to Israel.

Although this new government has leaders who are terrorists, war criminals and ultra-right wing racists, it is Zionism and the entire conceptualization of the state of Israel that should be indicted and condemned. A state for Jews only, a state that was formed by expelling hundreds of thousands of people, a state that makes laws to uphold the supremacy of Jews over other religious groups, a state that violates international humanitarian law every minute of every day, is a manufactured state, is a state that has no right to exist.

With the economic, military and political backing of imperial Great Britain, and against the popular sentiments of tens of millions of Arabs, Israel became a Jewish state in 1948, established on 78% of historic Palestine (even though Jews owned only 6% of the land), and forced into exile over 750,000 Palestinians. These Palestinians and their descendants make up the largest refugee population in the world, with estimates varying from 4.7 to 6.2 million people.

At the time of the founding of Israel, the most famous slogan of the Zionists was that Palestine was “a land without a people for a people without a land,” as if the Palestinians had never existed. Zionist militias, armed and protected by the British, terrorized Palestinian cities and villages and forced the mass exile of 1947-48 that the Palestinians call the Nakba, or Catastrophe.

This political movement, Zionism, sought to bring Jews from all over the world to settle in and colonize Palestine as a state exclusively for Jews. Britain, and later the U.S., have unequivocally supported Israel, considering it their settler-colonial outpost in the Arab world and Middle East. And leaders of these Zionist terrorist groups became future Israeli government officials, like former Prime Ministers Menachem Begin and Yitzak Shamir, who believed in the concept of Greater Israel – that all of historic Palestine, including the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the territories occupied in 1967, belonged to the Jews as well.

For 61 years, the state of Israel and the Zionism it represents have repudiated the national rights of Palestinians to self determination, return and independence. The Palestinians constitute a nation, one that has been oppressed for decades and one that continues to resist Israeli Zionist racism.

Resistance to South Africa’s apartheid system was the most correct and righteous struggle of its day. At that time, you would have been on the wrong side of morality, justice and history if you challenged the South African liberation movement’s demand to absolutely destroy and shatter apartheid. Why is Zionist Israel any different? Especially this new government? It is correct to boycott Israel, to divest from it and to push for sanctions against it. And you will find yourself on the wrong side of history again if you challenge the Palestinian liberation movement’s demand to dismantle Zionism, racism and the state of Israel. This is the real road to peace and justice for all people who live in historic Palestine and the entire region.

#Palestine #Commentary #Israel #Netanyahu #OpEd #MiddleEast