I
happened upon the protest and listened to many of the speeches. All of them
harped on the need to bring the hostages home. One woman went into detail about
all the suffering the hostages are going through. Not one word about the 33,000
Palestinians killed, not one word about the principle of proportionality
according to the 1949 Geneva Convention, which prohibits disproportionate
retaliation. Is there anyone anyplace who can deny that Israel is violating
that principle of international law, and has been doing so for decades?
most absurd aspect of the demonstration was the fervent demand that the U.S.
government bring the hostages home. The U.S. government? Obviously a demand like
this should not be directed at Biden. But the hidden message, obviously, was to
protest the U.S. abstention in the UN Security Council resolution calling for a
ceasefire. Nothing about the fact that the 14 other members of the Security
Council voted affirmatively and nothing about the fact that the entire world is
opposed to Israel’s attack on Gaza. Obviously the speakers weren’t concerned
about world public opinion, only that of the U.S. government which is Israel’s
benefactor to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars.
The
speakers at the rally made it seem as if with such a big turnout, the
politicians in Washington will have to listen to them in their insistence on 100%
support for Israel’s actions. As someone who has participated in protests in
Washington of 50,000 people calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to
military aid to Israel, I considered this rallying cry demand to support Israel
to be pathetic. The word pathetic, however, may not be appropriate, given the magnitude
of the tragedy that is taking place.
