Middle East Sees More Violence
Protesters demand Israel's exit from Gaza
Palestinian supporters protest against Israel's attack on Gaza as Israeli supporters continue to back their government. The Israeli-Palestinian dispute continues.
Dozens of Palestinian flags swayed outside the Israeli consulate of Toronto on Jul.8, where nearly 300 people gathered in front of the consulate to protest against the recent Israeli attacks on Gaza, following the kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers.
"The Palestinians are the victims of terrorism by the state of Israel, and as Muslims and as a part of a democratic society we are standing up for social justice on the side of the oppressed people," said Ali Mallah, an organizer of the protest.
This "emergency rally" as protesters called it, was organized by the Muslim Unity Group, a city-wide coalition of Muslim organizations that represents more than 350,000 Muslims across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
Several speakers spoke at the rally, including Jews, Christians and Muslims, and regardless of their different religious followings, the message remained the same: Israel needs to stop its atrocities against the Palestinian people and must leave Gaza immediately.
Banners and posters darted about the crowd demanding Israel to stop its assault on Gaza and to put an end to its "war crimes."
As similar protests spread throughout Canada and other countries, the situation in the Middle East worsened. When Hamas kidnapped one Israeli soldier on June 25 and Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shiite Muslim group killed eight Israeli soldiers and kidnapped two others, Israel responded with an attack on Gaza three days later, leading to the surge of protest around the world. Soon enough Israel responded to Hezbollah with air strikes, attacking not only Hezbollah targets and offices, but also the Beirut airport, seaports and a key bridge. Hezbollah has responded with rocket fire against Israel.
While the protesters expressed their discontent against Israel's response to the kidnappings by re-entering Gaza, after a pull-out just a year ago, Israeli government supporters have continued to support the actions taken by the state.
"Israel did not escalate the violence in any of the incidents. People crossed the border and came into the sovereign state of Israel and three soldiers were kidnapped. Israel must respond when attacked," said Alicia Richler, associate director of communications at the Canada-Israeli Committee.
"Majority of the Jewish community supports the Israeli state, because they cannot stand their people being killed," she said.
But speakers at the rally, including a prominent Israeli, Stav Adivi, a reserve major in the Israeli Defense Forces, member of Ometz Le'Sarev (The Courage to Refuse), and board member of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolition (ICAHD) said the tactics that Israel has deployed have been wrong.
"Israel is terrorizing the Palestinians and I don't see signs here accusing the Israeli government of terrorism because maybe the people here just wanted to be polite," he said with a chuckle.
But regardless of the continuing discontent on both opposing ends, violence in the Middle East has been on the rise, leading to what now has become a four-day conflict, claiming the lives of more than 100 in Lebanon and 15 in Israel, according to the Associated Press.
