Thousands of radical left-wingers take part in an anti-annexation rally in Rabin Square, some waving PLO flags
By: A7 Staff:
During a rally of the radical left in Rabin Square, Tel Aviv on Saturday night, head of the left-wing Meretz party MK Nitzan Horowitz claimed that “annexation [of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria] is a war crime and one against peace and democracy that’ll cost us thousands of lives.”
The rally was attended by over a thousand leftist protesters, some of them waving the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flag.
The current government is receiving support — a real push from the American administration,” Horowitz said. “That’s where the real initiative is coming from. This insanity is going to be a tragedy for both Jews and Arabs.” Horowitz called out Knesset members from Labor and Blue and White: “You’ve already betrayed your supporters by stealing their votes. Don’t let [Prime Minister Netanyahu] steal the country.”
Joint Arab List MK Jabar Asakla told supporters to “oppose the Israeli occupation, apartheid, racism, supremacy, and annexation plan of the joint right-wing government — an annexation that stands contrary to all international regulations and ethical guidelines, that won’t get anything done, and will only destroy all efforts towards a just peace agreement.”
Head of the Joint Arab List MK Ayman Odeh addressed protesters via a video recording. He said the country was at a “historic crossroads, with one path leading to a [bi-national state] and the other towards hatred, violence and apartheid; a reality in which the future of every child will be determined by his nationality and his entire life spent as a second-class citizen.”
“There is only one future, and it is the common one,” he asserted.
Meretz faction head MK Tamar Zandberg said, “The ‘Deal of the Century’ has nothing to do with what is good for us, Israelis and Palestinians living here in the Middle East. It’s a cursed deal between a man trying to win the elections and another trying to run away from justice. [US President Donald] Trump is not a friend of Israel’s. Netanyahu isn’t good for Israel. It’s a deal that will officially make Israel an apartheid state. Sovereignty without citizenship is apartheid. Saying the truth about apartheid is not extreme. Turning Israel into a country ostracized by the global community is extreme. Inflicting moral injustice upon millions — that’s extreme.”
“Now’s the time to oppose the plan. To fight using all means at our disposal and not back down. Jews and Arabs [need to] create a real challenge to the right that will be able to choose peace instead of occupation and annexation,” she stated.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a failed Democratic candidate for the presidency in 2020, also addressed protesters in a recorded video, telling them: “Like you I believe that the futures of the Israeli and Palestinian people are intertwined and that all of your children deserve to live in safety, freedom and equality. For that to be possible, the plans to illegally annex any part of the West bank must be stopped.”
Shlomo Karai of the Likud reacted to the speeches at the rally, saying: “We have a Fifth Column within us who’re hoping that the riots in the US will make their way here as well. It’s of no surprise to anyone that this kind of event looked more like a scene from Gaza than of concerned residents [leading a peaceful protest] in Tel Aviv. You can oppose Israel’s plan to apply sovereignty to Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, but whose interests are you really looking out for? The [terrorist] flags and anthem that were sung.”
“Your destroyers will come from within you,” he quoted the Biblical admonition. (INN)
