Stopping the war - moving towards a solution!

Following is the text of the call published by Israeli peace groups towards yesterday's anti-war rally in Tel Aviv

In spite of the harassment of the police, controlled by the racist minister Ben Gvir, we raise a loud and clear voice against the war and the occupation. Rally at 5.30 PM today (Sat. June 8) at Habima Square, Tel Aviv to commemorate the 57th anniversary of the occupation and protest the ongoing war in Gaza and the harsh occupation on the West Bank.

At the end of the rally, those who are interested can march together to the corner of Kaplan and Begin Streets and join the rally organized by families of Israeli captives held in Gaza - also calling for the end of the war.

Starting on June 5, 1967, this week 57 years ago, the State of Israel occupied territories inhabited by Palestinians: East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Already in the first months of the occupation, there were far-sighted Israelis who called for an end to the occupation and warned of its dire consequences. But successive heads of state would not hear of it. hearing. The occupation continues to this day. During the past year, it has reached its most barbaric moment.

A few days ago we witnessed the abominable "March of the Flags" in the Old City of Jerusalem, an orgy of hatred and violent racism. Physical attacks on Palestinian shopkeepers and on journalists, verbal abuse of peace activists who stood between the racists and their victims. An atmosphere of evil nationalist poison, a parade of Jewish supremacy reminiscent of Central European countries in the 1930s. But today we will witness and take part in the polar opposite: a rally to end the horrible war, end the occupation. A rally for peace. Standing against the terrible darkness of racism and opression, we will illuminate the city. In the face of inhumanity, we will put up a stubborn resistance wall of humanity. Come one, come all! Tonight at 17:30, we will come together to call for morality and justice.

A few days ago the police approved the "March of the Flags" in occupied East Jerusalem where the marchers spread hatred, racism and violence. The same police refused to give us a permit for a non-violent march calling for an end to the war in Gaza and commemorating the 57th anniversary of the occupation. Though we were willing to abide by various conditions set by the police, they - having a notorious violent racist as the minister in charge - arbitrarily refused to let us march and restricted us to a stationary rally at Habima Square. So we will have to make this rally count! We will not give up. We will not let this voice be silenced, the only voice which offers a sustainable solution, an end to the war and an equitable and safe future for all.

Today peace organizations, united in the broad Jewish-Arab coalition known as The Peace Partnership, will mobilize from across the country to come together in Tel Aviv. We will call for an end to 57 years of Israeli military occupation, which denies the Palestinian people the right to self-determination, thus denying peace and security to Palestinians and Israelis alike and negatively impacting all peoples in the region.

We will call for an end to the criminal war in Gaza which threatens millions of Palestinians. Continuation of the war also destroys the chance of an agreement that will guarantee the return of the Israeli abductees and hostages held in Gaza while they are alive, and which can set in motion a political process instead of the process of destructive war. We will also call for an end to the crimes committed on the West Bank by the settlers and the army, for an end to the persecution of Israeli Arab citizens and opponents of the war, and for an end to the neglect of the marginalized populations in Israel's periphery who are paying the most expensive price for the occupation and the wars. Specifically, we will refer to the crimes that are being committed right now in the city Rafah and demand that they end forthwith.

We will demonstrate for a prisoner exchange deal on the basis of "All for All" - i.e., release of all Israelis held captive in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of all Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Such a deal can be the beginning of progress towards a political solution that will guarantee both peoples, the Israeli and the Palestinian, a life in peace, equality and security.

COME ONE, COME ALL TO HABIMA SQUARE THIS AFTERNOON!

The rally was initiated by The Peace Partnership and endorsed by the following groups:

The Bloc Against the Occupation Gush Shalom Mothers Against Violence Hadash ( Demo ratio Front for Peace and EqualityZ) Tandi - Democratic Women Standing Together Mothers' Outcry Itach Macki - Women Lawyers for Justice A Land for All - Two Countries, One Homeland Israeli Palestinian Bereaved Families for Peace Isha L'isha - Haifa Feminist Center Horiya (Liberty) Yesh Gvul Combatants for Peace Messrvot (Refusers' Network) Messages of Solidarity Women against Violence Ossim Shalom - Social Workers for Peace A Rabbinic Voice for Human Rights Mizrahi Civic Collective Breaking Silence Torat Tzedek Peace Now The Feminist space—Our Feminism Cannot be Divided Machsom Watch Sons of Abraham This is Not an Ulpan Windows - Avenues for Communication Women in White New Profile Zazim - A Mobile Community

---

"They were abandoned on October 7 and have been in hell for eight months. Every moment in the Gaza Strip could be their last moment - and we must not accept this horrible situation!"

Following is the call for a rally later tonight,called by the Kibbutz Movement and the Gaza Captives' Families

Shaking the country: the abandoning of the captives must not be allowed to continue - make a prisoners' exchange deal now!

On this night there will be a joint mass rally of the Kibbutz Movement and the Families of the Gaza Abductees, at the Museum Square in Tel Aviv (unofficially "Abductees' Square). renamed . We will celebrate the upcoming Shavuot Holiday on the Abductees' Square and cry out with a broken but determined heart: the government of Israel must sign a deal for the return of the abductees The Kibbutz Movement says: This week we got proof that four abducrees were killed while in Gaza captivity. Yoram Metzger, Chaim Peri, Amiram Cooper and Nadav Poplev - members of Gaza Border kibbutzim - were taken alive from their homes and are known to have been still alive in captivity months later, and are now declared dead. The circumstances of their deaths were not specified.

After getting this harsh news, the kibbutz movement issued the following statement:

"Our dear friends were abandoned on October 7 in their invaded homes, no one coming to rescue them. They were abandoned for the second time, to die in the tunnels in Gaza. As of tonight, while we are grieving the hard news, Netanyahu's proposal for a deal to return the captives is placed on the table - except that Netanyahu himself tries to shirk implementing it.. Every day that passes, more of our abducted friends die in captivity. We ask the government Until when? Until there is no one left? The blood of our dead friends is on the conscience of Benjamin Netanyahu and the entire Government of Israel.

Note: We deplore the fact that the Kibbutz Movement and the Abductees' Families speak only of the abducted Israelis and make no mention of the terrible suffering of the Gazan Palestinians. Still, the bottom line is that their rally, like ours, calls for an end to the Gaza War, for a prisoner exchange deal which may lead to more far-reaching deals. Like us, they are striving to put strong pressure on the government to end the war. For that reason, many of us prepare to join their rally after the end of ours.