Dennis Fox’s Weblog

I’ve just posted a gallery of photos from Sunday’s rally to mark the 40th anniversary of Israel’s Palestinian Occupation. The photos include some of counter-protestors as well.

I attended this rally and march for a combination of political and personal reasons. As I’ve noted previously, beyond the important anti-occupation message, the anniversary has personal significance: 40 years ago I was in Israel, before and during the Six Day War and during the first weeks of the Occupation. Taking part in the first national demonstration specifically focused on the occupation seemed to me a way to come full circle. Maybe facing the other way, though.

The rally was small — I’ve heard estimates from 2000 to 5000 — but I don’t think that’s the only reason for the almost total lack of mainstream press coverage. The organizers repeatedly reminded us “CNN is here, the New York Times is here” and more, but editorial decisions about what to publish are always a combination of professional judgment and political calculation. You’d think even just a few thousand peaceful supporters of Israel’s Palestinian victims would merit some mention; the fact that a large percentage were Jewish, from Jewish Voice for Peace and other groups, should itself have been newsworthy given the mainstream media’s determined effort to ignore divided Jewish opinion on this issue. I suppose if someone started a brawl it would have made the news.

A couple of hundred counter-protestors rallied across the reflecting pool and came by to heckle. Forty years ago, I would have been one of them. This time, their signs and appeals to “think for yourself” seemed to me just one more symbol of their own refusal to challenge their own assumptions.

But there was some discussion, sort of.

One of the rally  speakers noted that 40 years ago yesterday, on June 11, 1967, Israel demolished the first Palestinian homes - not for security reasons, but to clear a large space in front of the Western Wall for the large expected crowds. I remember the reports of this, the excitement we young Zionists felt upon hearing every development. There was little discussion then of Israel’s actions, no awareness at all of the elderly woman killed as her house came down around her.

On June 16, 1967, just five days after that first home demolition and death, I stood in that clearing with a group of Americans and Israelis on our first West Bank visit.

The rubble was gone, but there was more outside the Old City walls, where new roads were already in the making.

The Occupation continues.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 12th, 2007 at 5:15 pm and is filed under Israel/Palestine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.