January
20, 2024
Israeli
Jews and Palestinian Israelis come together to demand an end to the war on
Gaza.
People hold placards and shout slogans as they take part in a
protest calling for a ceasefire and the release of Israeli captives held in
Gaza, in the northern Israeli port city of Haifa on Saturday [Ahmad
Gharabli/AFP]
Peace
activists have taken part in a protest in Israel’s third-largest city, Haifa,
demanding a ceasefire in the war on Gaza and the exchange of captives and
prisoners between Hamas and Israel.
“This
is the first time we are seeing this protest happen in the north,” said Al
Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Haifa on Saturday.
“It’s
a protest with Israeli Jews and Palestinian Israelis, and it is significant
because of the two coming together.
“The
message here is to end the war and that they can only live peacefully side by
side with a political solution for the Palestinians,” she said.
Omri
Evron, a member of the Communist Party of Israel, who helped organise the
anti-war protest, spoke to Al Jazeera about the message the protesters were
hoping to convey.
“The
killing of thousands and thousands of Palestinians, the vast majority of whom
are innocent civilians, is not only reprehensible, it does not serve the
security of the people of Israel. It does not bring us security, it only
ensures the next massacre, the next cycle of violence,” he said.
“Currently,
they [the protestors] are chanting “refuse to kill, refuse to fight, refuse to
murder” – this is our call.”
Evron
admitted there were difficulties in organising a protest of this kind.
“It
has been difficult, not because there aren’t Jews and Arabs who want to come
together who believe in a joint future of peace and equality and national
liberation of both people in two states,” he explained.
“It
has been difficult because the government and the police in particular have
done everything in their power to prevent us from coming together, to prevent
us from voicing a lawful and peaceful voice. We had to appeal to the Supreme
Court of Justice just to allow us to come together and demonstrate.”
Al
Jazeera’s Dekker said the protesters were not allowed to march, and officials
said the protest could not be held at night. But several hundred people were
finally able to gather for two hours during the day.
A man holds a mock fighter jet
during a protest calling for a ceasefire and the release of captives in the war
on Gaza. [Ahmad Gharabli/AFP]
People hold placards as they take part in the protest for peace
in Haifa. [Ahmad Gharabli/AFP]
Arab and Jewish peace activists in Israel come together to
protest. [Aef Safadi/EPA]
People stand behind a banner asking for a prisoner exchange
between Israel and Hamas. [Ahmad Gharabli/AFP
People hold placards calling for a ceasefire, a free Palestine,
and for the release of Israeli captives held in Gaza. [Ahmad Gharabli/AFP]
People hold placards calling for an end to the
"genocide" in Gaza. [Ahmad Gharabli/AFP]
Demonstrators call for the release of Israeli captives held in
Gaza. [Ahmad Gharabli/AFP]
People hold banners and shout slogans during the protest. [Ahmad
Gharabli/AFP]
A man stands behind an banner with words in Arabic, Hebrew and
English, calling for the war to end. [Ahmad Gharabli/AFP]
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