Israeli Leftists Demonstrate for Palestinian State In Tel Aviv

Israeli Leftists Demonstrate for Palestinian State In Tel
Aviv

By Ben Hartman

Jerusalem Post (Israel)
September 22, 2011

http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=239089

Dozens proclaim support for Palestinian bid outside
Independence Hall, sign declaration; Israel Prize laureates
among protesters.

Dozens of Israeli artists and academics on Thursday
proclaimed their support for the Palestinian United Nations
statehood bid, outside of Independence Hall in Tel Aviv.

The setting was symbolic, held outside the same building
where former Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the
independence of the state of Israel on May 14, 1948. Earlier
on Thursday, the group of 82 intellectuals and artists
published a declaration supporting the establishment of a
Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines. At the
demonstration on Thursday, the public was invited to sign
their names alongside the declaration.

The declaration reads "we, the undersigned, call on all
persons seeking peace and freedom, and upon all nations to
join us in welcoming the Palestinian Declaration of
Independence, to support it and to work and act together in
order to encourage the citizens of both countries to live
together in peace, based on the '67 borders and mutual
agreement. A final and complete end to the occupation is a
basic condition for the freedom of both peoples, for the
realization of Israel's Declaration of Independence and a
future of peaceful coexistence."

The undersigned include actress and Israel Prize laureate
Gila Almagor-Agmon, former Education Minister and Israel
Prize laureate Shulamit Aloni, former head of the IDF
education branch Maj. Gen (Ret) Nehemiah Dagan, former Chief
Education Officer, and author and Israel Prize laureate Amos
Oz.

Former Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and one time Israeli Ambassador to South Africa Alon Liel
told the crowd that Israelis must support the Palestinian
statehood bid and ignore Washington's impending veto of the
initiative.

Liel called US President Barack Obama's speech at the UN
General Assembly the day before "a knockout punch to
[Palestinian Authority President] Mahmoud Abbas. A clearly
anti-Palestinian US campaign speech. A speech where he said
the US supports the rebels in Tunisia, in Libya, in Egypt,
in Bahrain, but in Palestinian? No. The Palestinians are
something else because they are facing Israel."

"It hurts to see a president like Obama, who caused us to
feel such great hope, dismiss Abu Mazen who has spent three
years working on the diplomatic track," Liel said, adding
"Obama and the US of today are no longer running the world
today, there is a larger international community that can
run the world. The US doesn't have the power to deal you
this blow."

The gesture was in a sense a repeat of a similar effort this
April, when a group that included many of the same Israelis
proclaimed their support for a Palestinian state outside
Independence Hall. Thursday's effort was significantly more
subdued and low-key than the one in April, in which large
numbers of passersbies began booing and shouting the
protestors, and a number of shoving matches broke out.

On Friday, the left-wing organization Peace Now will also
hold a series of demonstrations in support of the
Palestinian statehood bid. Entitled "Israel says yes to the
Palestinian state," the event will include rallies in north
Tel Aviv at the corner of Arlozorov and Namir, in Jerusalem
under the Strings Bridge, in Kiryat Ono, and in Haifa.

==========

Right-Wing Activists Crash Rally for Palestinian State

  Rally participated by 21 Israel Prize laureates was to
  culminate by signing declaration of Palestinian
  independence outside Tel Aviv's historical Independence
  Hall.

By Mazal Mualem
Haaretz (Israel)
September 22, 2011

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/right-wing-activists-crash-rally-for-palestinian-state-1.357490

A rally organized by leftist intellectuals in support of a
Palestinian state yesterday descended into a verbal free-
for-all after a group of right-wing activists gate-crashed
the demonstration in Tel Aviv.

Among the organizers and left-wing participants were 17
Israel Prize laureates, looking to pressure Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu to embark on a diplomatic initiative,
ahead of the expected declaration of a Palestinian state
within 1967 borders at the U.N. General Assembly in
September.

The protesters' declaration said it supported the
"independence of two peoples who strengthen each other, is
both a moral and an existential need and is the basis for
the possibility of good neighborliness."

While the ceremony was underway with a "declaration of
independence from occupation" being read, right-wing
activists shouted "fifth column" and "traitors" at the
demonstrators.

When the actress Hanna Maron read from the declaration,
right-wing activists interrupted her repeatedly, shouting,
"You forgot what they did to you in Munich."

Maron was seriously injured in 1970 by a grenade thrown by
Palestinian militants at Munich airport, resulting in the
amputation of her leg.

The declaration, which was read on Rothschild Boulevard
outside Independence Hall, was couched in phrases recalling
Israel's Declaration of Dependence, which David Ben-Gurion
read in the same hall on May 14, 1948.

"We have gathered here on this 21st day of April to welcome
the expected declaration of independence of the Palestinian
state, the state bordering on Israel according to the
borders of our independence, which were created with the end
of the War of Independence in 1949, known as the 1967
borders," proclaimed the declaration.

Other participants were author Sami Michael, playwright
Yehoshua Sobol, filmmaker Ari Fogel, and Professor Zeev
Sternhell. Later, in a televised debate on Channel 2, Ben-
Gurion's grandson, Dr. Yariv Ben-Eliezer, lashed out at
Sternhell, asking: "Who do you think you are? My
grandfather's vision has been turned into a gimmick."

"There is intentional symbolism in it," Sternhell responded.
"We are raising the Declaration of Independence to a higher
level."

The incident spurred various responses. Deputy Foreign
Minister Daniel Ayalon said: "Such actions only drive the
chance for peace, reconciliation and the establishment of a
Palestinian state farther away. They create false hope among
the Palestinians that they can establish a state
unilaterally without negotiations with Israel."

The head of the Likud response team, MK Ofir Akunis, called
the initiative "a sorry provocation of an extreme and
bizarre leftist group pretending to represent the left."

MK Zahava Gal-On (New Movement-Meretz ) said the initiative
should be part of the political platform of the left.

==========

Recognizing a Palestinian State Based on the 1967 Borders is
Vital for Israel's Existence

[An English copy of the advert that appeared in Yedioth
Ahronoth on 18th May 2011
http://www.scribd.com/doc/55730153/An-English-copy-of-the-
advert-that-appeared-in-Yedioth-Ahronoth-on-18th-May-2011 ]

We, the citizens of Israel, call on the public to support
the recognition of a democratic Palestinian state as a
condition for ending the conflict, and reaching agreed
borders on the basis of the 1967 borders. Recognition of
such a Palestinian state is vital for Israel's existence. It
is the only way to guarantee the resolution of the convict
by negotiations, to prevent the eruption of another round of
massive violence and end the risky isolation of Israel in
the world.The successful implementation of the agreements
requires two leaderships, Israeli and Palestinian, which
recognize each other, choose peace and are fully committed
to it. This is the only policy that leaves Israel's fate and
security in its own hands. Any other policy contradicts the
promise of Zionism and the welfare of the Jewish people.

      We, the undersigned, therefore call upon any person
      seeking peace and liberty and upon all nations to
      join us in welcoming thePalestinian Declaration of
      Independence and support the efforts of the citizens
      of the two states to maintain peaceful relations on
      the basis of secure borders and good neighborliness.
      The end of the occupation is a fundamental condition
      for the liberation of the two peoples, the
      realization of the Israeli Declaration of
      Independence and a future of peaceful coexistence

Larry Abramson  - Artist and Prof. of the arts
Maj Gen (Ret.) Avraham Adan ("Bren")  - former Commander of
 the Armored Corps
Prof. Chaim Adler  - Israel Prize laureate
Prof. Joseph Agassi
Gila Almagor-Agmon  - Israel Prize laureate
Brig Gen (Ret.) Dr.  Yitzhak Arad  - former Chairman of Yad
 Vashem
Col (Ret.) As'ad As'ad  - former Member of Knesset, Likud
Brig Gen (Ret.) Menachem Aviram  - former Commander of
 Paratroopers Brigade and of the IDF Command and Staff
 College
Collette Avital  - former Consul in New York
Avner Azulai  - former senior Mossad official
Prof. Elie Barnavi  - former Ambassador to France
Brig Gen (Ret.) Mordechai Bar-On  - former Chief Education
 Officer
Ilan Baruch  - former Ambassador to South Africa
Prof. Yehuda Bauer  - former Director of the International
 Center for Holocaust Studies of Yad Vashem and Israel
 Prize laureate
Prof. Haim Ben-Shahar  - former President of Tel Aviv
 University, founder of the Israel Democracy Institute
Adv. Michael Ben Yair  - former Attorney General
Prof. Menachem Brinker  - Israel Prize laureate
Prof. Judith Buber Agassi
Prof. Naomi Chazan  - former Member of Knesset
Col (Ret.) Ran Cohen  - former Minister of Trade and
 Industry
Maj Gen (Ret) Nehemiah Dagan  - former Chief Education
 Officer
Dr. Yossi Dahan
Yael Dayan  - former Member of Knesset
Brig Gen (Ret.) Prof. Eran Dolev
Prof. Yehuda Elkana  - former President of the Central
 European University
Brig Gen (Ret.) Yitzchak Elron
Prof. Yaron Ezrahi  - winner of the Political Science
 Society Award
Yona Fischer  - Israel Prize laureate
Ari Folman  - Golden Globe laureate
Prof. Yitzhak Galnoor  - former Civil Service Commissioner
Prof. Haim Ganz
Maj Gen (Ret.) Shlomo Gazit  - former Head of Military
 Intelligence, Chairman of the Jewish Agency and President
 of Ben Gurion University
Yair Garbuz  - Emet Prize laureate
Moshe Gershuni  - Israel Prize laureate
Maj Gen (Ret.) Yosef Geva  - former OC Central Command
Prof. Galia Golan
Prof. Amiram Goldblum
Prof. Hanoch Gutfreund   - former President of the
 Hebrew University
Adv. Shlomo Gur  - former foreign serviceman and Director
 General of the Justice Ministry
Prof. David Harel  - Israel Prize and Emet laureate
Dr. Shmuel Harlap  - Chairman of Colmobil Limited
Yoram Kaniuk  - Sapir Prize laureate
Dani Karavan  - Israel Prize laureate
Prof. Elihu Katz  - Israel Prize laureate
Col (Ret.) Paul Kedar  - former Consul in New York
Prof. Yehoshua Kolodny  - Israel Prize laureate
Maj Gen (Ret.) Amos Lapidot  - former Commander of
 Israeli Air Force
Alex Levac  - Israel Prize laureate
Dr. Alon Liel  - former Director General of Foreign Ministry
Brig Gen (Ret.) Asher Levy
Maj Gen (Ret) Zeev Livneh  - established the Home Front
 Command
Ram Loevy  - Israel Prize laureate
Prof. Avishai Margalit  - Israel and Emet Prize laureate
Hanna Maron  - Israel Prize laureate
Maj Gen (Ret.) Menachem Meron (Mendy)  - former Commander of
 Military Colleges
Sami Michael  - Emet Prize laureate
Ohad Naharin  - Israel and Emet Prize laureate
Nachik Navot  - former Deputy Head of Mossad
Prof. Jad Ne'eman  - Israel Prize laureate
Amoz Oz  - Israel Prize laureate
Brig Gen (Ret.) Ilan Paz
Prof. Dov Pekelman
Maj Gen (Ret.) Dr. Elad Peled  - former Commander of
 National Security College and Director General of the
 Ministry of Education
Prof. Itamar Procaccia  - Israel Prize laureate
Sefi Rachlevsky  - author and expert on Jewish theology
Prof. Eliezer Rafaeli  - First President of Haifa University
Prof. Sheizaf Rafaeli  - Dean of the School of Management,
 Haifa University
Brig Gen (Ret.) Giora Ram  - former Deputy Commander of the
 Israeli Air Force
Prof. Gabi Salomon  - Israel Prize laureate
Adv. Talia Sasson  - former senior State Advocacy Official
Dr. Aliza Savir  - Deputy Director of Peres Center for Peace
Prof. Hillel Schocken
Prof. Alice Shalvi  - Israel Prize laureate
Maj Gen (Ret.) Nathan Sharoni  - President of Council of
 Peace and Security
Prof. Aliza Shenhar  - President of Yezreel Valley College
Prof. David Shulman  - Emet Prize laureate
Joshua Sobol  - Theater Award laureate
Prof. Zeev Sternhell  - Israel Prize laureate
Prof. Carlo Strenger
Prof. Zeev Tadmor  - former President of Technion, EmetPrize
 laureate
David Tartakover  - Israel Prize laureate
Dan Tsur  - Israel Prize laureate
Prof. Zeev Tzahor  - President of Sapir College
Micha Ullman  - Israel Prize laureate
Lia van Leer  - Israel Prize laureate
Prof. Menahem Yaari  - Israel Prize laureate, President
 (Emeritus) of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Maj Gen (Ret.) Aviezer Yaari  - former Commander of Military
 Colleges
Dalia Yairi
Prof. Yossi Yonah
Prof. Yirmiyahu Yovel  - Israel Prize laureate