Protest at Israel's attacks on Lebanon, Melbourne, 22 July : Melbourne Indymedia

One obvious difference was in the speakers: this time there were representatives from the peace and union movements, as well as a spokeperson for the Greens - and a message from the Democrats - in addition to the Lebanese community and religious leaders. And perhaps reflecting the much-improved weather, there was a wider range of participants, both in age and background, including Indigenous Australians. Striking was the emphasis on children, and there were many elderly people who were there right to the end. Kevin Bracken of the MUA expressed the unionist viewpoint, while David Spratt condemned the double standards implicit in the attitude of the Bush/Blair/Howard axis towards the Arab world. The rally was also addressed by a young Lebanese-Australian who had just escaped from the conflict, and by Sheik Fahmi Imam, who called upon President Bush to say to Israel 'Enough is enough!' Amongst the many banners and placards there did not appear to be any representing the ALP or the Coalition, but they may have been lost amongst the multitude.

Numbers were hard to gauge and were not constant: the grounds outside the State Library were pretty full once things had got going, but not everyone stayed for the march down Swanson Street.The procession itself was more tightly packed than last week, but still stretched for more than two blocks. Some stopped at Federation Square while others continued part of the way across Princes Bridge, where there was a brief halt and minute's silence to mark those killed, before reassembling at the Square for final speeches. Channel 2 news on Saturday evening gave an estimate of 5,000, but didn't specify a source.

See the placard below...

The spot was chosen to mark the destruction of Lebanon's bridges along with other infrastructure

Great to see all the Australian flags being carried by all those 'Australians.' It shows where their hearts are REALLY at.

More importantly we certainly recognise where Clavell's brain is - in some low filthy mud patch.

There is a disconnect between what you infer in your mindless post and the gravity of what the protesters with Lebanese flags are saying. over current events in that nation.

Your disconnect is so extreme that you need to give more time to read the directions on your medication.

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Great to be an Ausie (sic)
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Spelt like a true Zion-Nazi

I was tired and couldn't make it but this is wonderful!!
Thank you for putting up all these photos.

The other difference I see from these photos and images from the TV news is that so many Muslims/Arabs(Lebanese?) came! And that's good too cause I bet they have been kinda hiding since 9/11 cause they put this false allegation on them with that inside job.

BTW, "placard based on news photos" was not really accurate. Those are the photos TV news never showed us!

I posted that link here,
http://www.melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/07/117387_comment.php

and it's shocking.
My friend in the US just told me that the US is GIVING WEAPONS to Israel. He saw the US certain tank being used by Israeli soldiers, and said that it's SO OBVIOUS.

Ssome of the photos of Zion-Nazi war crimes in the Lebanon were broadcast here, albeit briefly.

Nevertheless...
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As you behold the destruction of Lebanon, you may think it looks disturbingly familiar
Canadian Arab News
July 20, 2006

As our craven, incurious media does its predicable best to manufacture sympathy for Israel and censor images of the massacre of Lebanon, the Internet is showing itself to be the premier source of real news.

What else could you expect, since the North American media’s “coverage” of the Middle East amounts to little more than regurgitating dispatches from Zionist and Anglo-Saxon news services like Associated Press (U.S.), Reuters (U.K.) and CanWest (Canada) [owners of chanel 10].

How about Arab news sources, like Al-Jazeera? “We don’t subscribe to them,” was how a combative assistant managing editor at the Vancouver Sun responded when I asked. The absurdity and prejudice in his answer obviously didn’t faze him, assuming he even noticed.

Perhaps this lacuna of objectivity explains why we haven’t been told that the two Israeli soldiers that Hezbollah captured were found INSIDE LEBANON.

According to the Lebanese police force, the two soldiers were captured in the area of Ayta Al-Chaab—INSIDE LEBANON. Strange, but this nugget of information, which refutes the lie that Hezbollah crossed into Israel, was reported by Asia Times, Hindustani Times, and the Bahrain News Agency.

Fact is, Hezbollah retaliates aggainst aggression; it does not start it. Even the 1983 attack on the U.S. marine barracks in Beirut during Israeli first invasion, was in retaliation for U.S. a naval off-shore bombardment that destroyed two villages in the Shouf Mountains.

In this case, Hezbollah’s actions must be seen in the context of Israel’s butchery of Palestine, beginning with the bombing of the family on the beach in Gaza. As is always the case, Israel brings these attacks on itself and then finds away to blame Muslims for aggression. That’s the INCONVENIENT, DEMONSTRABLE FACT our media does not want us to know.

As a result of the Jewish prism that gives us a distorted, demonized impression of Arab and Iranian resistance movements—along with sanitized impressions of Zionist war atrocities—you don't see detailed accounts like that of Simon Fraser University professor Dr. Laura Marks who was in Beirut on July 19 and wrote the following:

"This morning, Israel bombed a tourist bus and an truck carrying medical aid from the UAE. Israel is dropping illegal phosphorous incendiary bombs on civilians. As of this morning 230 people have been killed: 208 civilians, many of them children; 22 Lebanese Army soldiers (who are forbidden to fight); and 5 members of Hezbollah. The Lebanese infrastructure has been bombed back at least 20 years: all roads, airports, ports, bridges, power plants, gas storage, gas stations, a milk company, a medicine supply company, a paper plant, a plastics plant—everything useful."

Doubtless it's because of inconvenient candour like this that the U.S. wants to control the Internet, but for the time being the worldwideweb is free, and so here is a point of view the Zionists don’t want you to see. The accompanying photo essay of the destruction of Lebanon betrays the anti-Arab hatred and brutality that is the essence of the Jewish democracy. [sic]
http://www.gregfelton.com/middle/2006_07_20a.htm

There were more Australian flags on this march than all the dumb anti-Arab-and-Muslim rednecks have flapping outside their houses across Sutherland Shire. The spectacle would have given far-right idealogues like radio "shock jock" Alan Jones and the Sydney Morning Herald's celebrity journalist Paul Sheehan terminal nightmares.

http://www.brushtail.com.au/july_06_on/israel_out!.html
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feature link at:
http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/
20,000+ march in Sydney against Zionist aggression
Click for more photos!

Left-wing conflicted on war with Hizbullah
By NATHANIEL ROSEN

Although there appears to be broad support for the government's actions against Hizbullah, a small number of demonstrators took to the streets of Tel Aviv this week to protest the conflict in Lebanon.

With cries of "Return to the negotiating table" and "All the ministers are war criminals," the demonstration highlighted the difference of opinion within Israel's left-wing, and drew parallels between this war and that which took place in 1982.

The rally on Sunday was organized by Gush Shalom, the self-described "hard core of the Israeli peace bloc," along with various other left-wing organizations such as Yesh Gvul, Anarchists Against Walls, Ta'ayush, and the Women's Coalition for Peace. The demonstration was not the first against the current war, as Gush Shalom had organized a rally the day the war began.

Gush Shalom's founder, Uri Avnery, was quite outspoken about the current war with Lebanon.

"I believe that this war is bad. It's a bad war for Israel, it's a bad war for everybody, it's a bad war for peace," said Avnery. "The real question was, and remains, the Palestinian question, which is the source of all the other conflicts. Hizbullah would not have gone into action if there had not been an Israeli onslaught on the Gaza strip."

Avnery said that "the real aim in Gaza is to destroy the elected Hamas government and this has created the situation which has brought Hizbullah into the conflict."

Other Israeli leftist groups, however, are supportive of the war.

Peace Now chose not to participate in the rally on Sunday. According to Yariv Oppenheimer, the organization's director-general, "most people support the conflict and this is why we didn't take part in the demonstration..."

Oppenheimer added that there were still varying opinions among Peace Now's membership.

"In general, not all the people in Peace Now think the same. Some people support the actions of the Israeli government and think it's the right think to do... Others think it was necessary, but we are doing too much. Others yet, think that we shouldn't have gone on this operation and should have operated only the diplomatic channel," said Oppenheimer.

Oppenheimer hopes that the military operation will lead to a diplomatic solution in the peace process.

"If after the operation we are going to have a situation with moderate Lebanese and Palestinians, and we can show them that they have a partner and not just an enemy, then something will have come from this operation. But, if there will be only a cease-fire with nothing after it, then we didn't get the maximum from this operation," he said.

Avnery, on the other hand, believes that "there is no peace process until Israel says it is ready to negotiate with the elected Palestinian government, which is Hamas."

Many groups feel that the current situation in Lebanon mirrors that which took place there in 1982. According to Yana Knopova, a member of the Coalition of Women for Peace, the current situation is "the same" as in 1982.

"We will have another week, two weeks, three weeks, why not? It's our soldiers being killed in Lebanon because our government doesn't have a plan," said Knopova.

Avnery seconded the idea, saying that the recent demonstrations have only strengthened his belief that this war is very much the same as the 1982 war.

"The first demonstration was 100 people, yesterday was 600 people," he claimed, "and the next one will be in Rabin square on Shabbat, where there will maybe be a thousand people... for me this is d j vu. We were in the same situation in 1982. In the beginning we were a 100, after a week 1,000, on the third of July there were 10,000, and after Sabra and Shatila there were 400,000 people,"Avnery claimed.

While certain groups, such as Gush Shalom, have opposed the war, an overwhelming majority of the country is still quite supportive.

"The same thing happened last time. When Begin invaded Lebanon in 1982 he had 99.9 percent of support. It always happens at the beginning of the war, and the bombardment of Israeli cities hardens Israeli opinion. It is a natural reaction," said Avnery.

Despite this, protesters feel that demonstrations, even during the early stages in the war, are necessary.

"I think it's never early for the voice of peace, the voice of negotiations. For me, it's very late right now, we should have been doing this a couple of weeks ago," said Knopova.

Ironically just like the sexually repressed militants of Hizbollah and Hamas amongst the 1 Billion + Islamists (eg State of Iran murders homosexuals), homophobia the hatred of gays, amongst the 1 Billion Catholics and their militant Opus Dei, the Millions of Protestants and their militant Ku Klux Klan, Loyal Orange Order etc, the 1 Billion Hindus and their militant BJP.... in Israel Zionist Police cancel the event after fundamentalists there repress sexuality...all this continues unabated...they would all rather see two men holding guns than holding hands...the Mass psychology of Fascism does not just belong to 1930's Germany !

Gay parade in Jerusalem canceled
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS

A controversial international gay pride parade that was slated to take place in Jerusalem next month has been canceled due to the war in the north, the organizers of the event said Sunday.

The contested parade, which was to have been the highlight of a week-long international gay festival in the capital, was nixed due to the security situation in the country, and the fact that police would not be able to allocate sufficient forces needed to secure such a major event, said Hagai El-Ad, the Executive-Director of Jerusalem's Gay and Lesbian Center, which is hosting the event.

He added that the festival's other smaller indoor events, including a film festival and workshops, would take place as scheduled.

The organizer's dramatic decision to cancel the event for the second year in a row was made after police let organizers know that they could not allow the event to take place due to the current security situation in the country, and came amidst mounting concerns over violence at the event.

The planned international gay festival, which was originally scheduled to take place last year and had been postponed until August due to last summer's Gaza pullout, has been widely criticized by a coterie of Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders in Jerusalem and around the world as a deliberate affront and provocation to millions of believers around the world.

Supporters of the event countered that freedom of speech enables them to hold the event in Jerusalem, as a symbol of tolerance and pluralism.

Even before the war broke out in the north, police - who have the prerogative for issuing such public events -- have been deliberating for weeks whether to ban the parade due to concerns over public safety, with the violence affording both sides an easy way out, officials said.

Despite the cancellation of the parade, the strongest opponents of the event said Sunday that they were determined to stop all the festival's events, including those that were being held indoors.

"This is not a significant victory for those who want Jerusalem to be a moral haven, and to have one week of militant homosexual activities in the city is not acceptable," said New York Rabbi Yehuda Levin of the Orthodox 'Rabbinical Alliance of America' and the 'Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the US and Canada' who has been spearheading an international campaign against the event.

In a largely conservative city, with a strong religious and traditional makeup, the idea of holding such an international parade in Jerusalem is seen by many city residents -- even outside of religious circles -- as out of touch with both the spiritual character of the city as well as the sensitivities of its observant residents.

A public opinion poll released last year found that three-quarters of Jerusalem residents were opposed to holding the international gay event in the city, while only a quarter supported it.

The last international gay parade, which took place in Rome in 2000 despite the wrath of the Vatican, attracted about half a million participants, while local organizers expect tens of thousands of revelers for the Jerusalem event this summer.

The curtailed six-day event will include workshops and a gay film festival.

Wouldn't it be funny if these hypocrites ever protested, oh I dunno, the massacres of Black Africans by the Muslims of Sudan or something.

Of course, they would if somehow it could be blamed on the Jews.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darfur_conflict

400,000 die in the sand there and none of these deadshits give a damn,

THE CONSTITUTION OF HAMAS:

Article 7:

" The time(16) will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: 0 Muslim! there is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him! This will not apply to the Gharqad(17), which is a Jewish tree (cited by Bukhari and Muslim)(18)."

Article 11:

"The Islamic Resistance Movement believes that the land ofPalestine has been an Islamic Waqf throughout the generations and until the Day of Resurrection, no one can renounce it or part of it, or abandon it or part of it. No Arab country nor the aggregate of all Arab countries, and no Arab King or President nor all of them in the aggregate, have that right, nor has that right any organization or the aggregate of all organizations, be they Palestinian or Arab, because Palestine is anIslamic Waqf throughout all generations and to the Day or Resurrection."

http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/880818.htm

This is what you stand for. This is what you have become now.

Image: Sudanese child victim of Sudanese Muslim militias.

The US, Britain and Australia were very concerned about the Darfur conflict and would have liked to help bring "peace'' to that region but unfortunately we were to busy seizing control of Iraqs oil fields (and killing a couple thousand innocents in the process), therefore we found that, in reality, we couldn't give a rats arse about that conflict as there was no money to made (other than selling arms to both sides of course).

Notice the people who attend the rallies are from the following groups

Left Wing loonies - Greens Democrats etc
Hezbollah supporters
Muslim Lebanese
Unions

All Minority fringe groups - and not many of them, most austraians have better things to do then listen to their lies

All have left out the truth and the facts in their speeches
Hezbollah started the war
Hezbollah has been planning the war since israel left Lebanon,
Hezbollah has been firing rockets at israel before the war and continue to do so.
The last time peace keepers were in Lebanon they were MURDERED by Hezbollah vermin which is why UN nations are adamant to send in peace keepers until hezbollah are weakened enough for the peace keepers to defend them selves.

And the last thing the protesters arent calling for peace if they were then they would also call on 1.Hezbollah to stop attacking israle and Iran to stop inflaming the war ALL A BUNCH OF HYPOCRITES

What a coherently argued, factually based and literately written piece. Would you like to join my staff?

Wouldn't it be funny if a Sudanese atrocity could somehow justify a Judeo-Nazi atrocity?
Wouldn't it be funny if critics of Sudanese atrocities could be ridiculed and dsimeissed as "anti-Sudanites"?

Wouldn't it be funny if the Arabs had to be sacrificed on the Jewish altar as an abstract revenge for the crimes commited by by the German Nazis?