Israel Out of Palestine/Lebanon!

As we've been travelling we've been dismayed with the news of the Israeli war machine's brutal onslaught against the Palestinians in Gaza and now against the people of Lebanon. The civilian death toll in Lebanon has now almost reached 300 with Israel threatening a ground offensive.

But there are also protests around the world condeming these outrageous attacks. In particular its encouraging to hear of the big demonstration in Sydney (15,000 - 20,000 people) along with the 2,500 person anti-war demonstration held in Tel Aviv yesterday.

****Here is an article translated from the Israeli newspaper Haaretz from the Green Left Weekly Discussion elist about the Tel Aviv demo.

---Anti-war Tel Aviv rally draws Jewish, Israeli Arab crowdBy Lily GaliliMore than 2,500 people on Saturday attended a mass demonstration against the war in Lebanon, marching from Tel Aviv's Rabin Square to a rally at theCinemateque plaza.

The rally was the first of its kind protesting against the IDF's offensivein Lebanon. Unlike previous anti-war protests in Israel, major Araborganizations in Israel - among them Hadash and Balad --participated in theevent in large numbers.They were joined by the left flank of the Zionist Left --former Meretz leader Shulamit Aloni and Prof. Galia Golan, alongside the radical left ofGush Shalom, the refusal to serve movement Yesh Gvul, Anarchists Against theWall, Coalition of Women for Peace, Taayush and others.

These Jewish and Arab groups ordinarily shy away from joint activity. They couldn't come up with a unifying slogan this time either, except for thecall to stop the war and start talking. However, protest veterans noted thatin the Lebanon War of 1982 it took more than 10 days of warfare to bring outthis many protesters, marking the first crack in the consensus.

The protest drew some new faces, like Tehiya Regev of Carmiel, whose two neighbors were killed in a Katyusha attack on the city. "This war is not headed in the right direction," she told Haaretz; "the captured soldiers have long since been forgotten, so I came to call for an immediate stop tothis foolish and cruel war."

The rally, which received wide international press coverage, had a theme unfamiliar from previous demonstrations here. Beside the usual calls for theprime minister and defense minister to resign, this was a distinctlyanti-American protest. Alongside chants of "We will not kill, we will notdie in the name of Zionism" there were chants of "We will not die andill not kill in the service of the United States," and slogans condemning President George W. Bush.

*** Information about the Rally in Sydney

Sydney rally against Israeli attacks on Lebanon & Palestine
The streets were filled with throngs of people -- many from Sydney's Lebanese and Palestinian communities -- as 20,000 people marched on July 22 to protest the bitter injustice of Israel's latest offensive against the people of Lebanon and Palestine.

<http://sydney.indymedia.org/node/37881>

**** Turskish Rallies calling for Israeli withdraw from Gaza

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News
Thousands of protestors took to the streets across Turkey to protest Israel and declare support for the Palestinians.

<http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=48950>