Arab and Jewish activists protesting in northern Israel’s Haifa
Peace activists take part in a protest demanding an end to the war and the exchange of prisoners and hostages between Hamas and Israel.
Omri Evron, a member of the Communist Party of Israel, who helped organise the anti-war protest in Haifa spoke to Al Jazeera about the message protesters are trying to convey. Here were his main points:
- The killing of thousands and thousands of Palestinians, the vast majority of whom are innocent civilians, is not only reprehensible it does not serve the security of the people of Israel.
- It does not bring us security, it only ensures the next massacre, the next cycle of violence.
- Currently, they (the protestors) are chanting “refuse to kill, refuse to fight, refuse to murder” – this is our call.
On the difficulties protest organisers face, he said:
- It has been difficult, not because there aren’t Jews and Arabs who want to come together who believe in a joint future of peace and equality and national liberation of both people in two states.
- It has been difficult because the government and the police in particular have done everything in their power to prevent us from coming together, to prevent us from voicing a lawful and peaceful voice.
- We had to appeal to the Supreme Court of Justice just to allow us to come together and demonstrate.
This is the first time we are seeing this protest happen in the north. It’s a protest with Israeli Jews and Palestinian Israelis, and it is significant because of the two coming together. It’s been very difficult for this protest to take place. The organisers went to the Supreme Court to petition against the refusal from the police. The court gave them the go-ahead with a lot of restrictions. The protesters weren’t allowed to march, and it wasn’t allowed to be held at night.
It’s now being held during the day but only for two hours.
Families of captives continue to protest outside Netanyahu’s home
The protesters said that they wanted Netanyahu to step out and speak to them. One person, whose brother is in captivity and whose mother was released in the last deal, said Netanyahu looked her in the eyes and said the captives matter. She believes he’s lying. She said there was blood on his hands.
Some really strong language is coming from the captives’ families at the moment, and that is really putting more pressure on Netanyahu. People standing outside his home in Caesarea at the moment are holding up posters saying ‘We want a deal now’.
Supporters and family members of captives held in Gaza camp outside the residence of the Israeli PM in Caesarea, Israel
Eli Shtivi, father of captive Idan Shtivi, who is on a hunger strike, stands next to a poster of his son
The father of one of the captives is on a hunger strike, and they released a very strong statement that says they demand that Israel stop the execution of hostages. There have been weeks of protests, particularly in Tel Aviv from tens of thousands of people. Many have switched from just calling for the release of captives to demanding a ceasefire in order to release them.
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