Meengla
Elite Member
- Jul 31, 2009
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This is the topmost headline on NY Times right now--in an election year too!
Thousands of protesters flooded streets in cities across Israel on Sunday night to demand that the government immediately accept a deal for the release of hostages held in Gaza. The demonstrations, some of the largest in the country in months, came after the Israeli military announced it had recovered the bodies of six hostages who been recently killed in Gaza.
In Tel Aviv, hostage families and a crowd of supporters carried six prop coffins in a march through the city, blocked its main highway and swarmed in front of the Israeli military headquarters. In Jerusalem, the Israeli police used water cannons to spray skunk water, a noxious crowd control weapon, and forcefully removed people who rallied in front of the city’s main entrance.
Protesters gathered in smaller cities, too, including in Haifa and Beer Sheva, Israeli media outlets reported. In Rehovot, in central Israel, people blocked traffic and chanted, “We want them back living, not in coffins!”
The families of many hostages have long accused the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, of sabotaging efforts for a deal for his own political gain. They have taken increasingly aggressive steps to try to pressure him into action, including protesting in front of his Jerusalem home and storming a Parliament meeting.
The families’ frustration appeared to reach a boiling point on Sunday after the Israeli military said that the bodies of six hostages had been recovered. The Israeli health ministry said they had been shot at close range sometime between Thursday and Friday morning.
Their blood was on the hands of the Israeli government, said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group that represents some of the relatives, and it called on the public to “bring the nation to a halt.”
The message was echoed by Israel’s largest labor union, which declared a strike beginning Monday morning, and by Yair Lapid, the Israeli opposition leader.
The Families Forum said hundreds of thousands of people were protesting around the country on Sunday evening, but it was not possible to verify the figure. The Israeli police, which said that five people had been arrested during the protests in Jerusalem, declined to provide any estimates of crowd sizes.
Thousands of protesters flooded streets in cities across Israel on Sunday night to demand that the government immediately accept a deal for the release of hostages held in Gaza. The demonstrations, some of the largest in the country in months, came after the Israeli military announced it had recovered the bodies of six hostages who been recently killed in Gaza.
In Tel Aviv, hostage families and a crowd of supporters carried six prop coffins in a march through the city, blocked its main highway and swarmed in front of the Israeli military headquarters. In Jerusalem, the Israeli police used water cannons to spray skunk water, a noxious crowd control weapon, and forcefully removed people who rallied in front of the city’s main entrance.
Protesters gathered in smaller cities, too, including in Haifa and Beer Sheva, Israeli media outlets reported. In Rehovot, in central Israel, people blocked traffic and chanted, “We want them back living, not in coffins!”
The families of many hostages have long accused the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, of sabotaging efforts for a deal for his own political gain. They have taken increasingly aggressive steps to try to pressure him into action, including protesting in front of his Jerusalem home and storming a Parliament meeting.
The families’ frustration appeared to reach a boiling point on Sunday after the Israeli military said that the bodies of six hostages had been recovered. The Israeli health ministry said they had been shot at close range sometime between Thursday and Friday morning.
Their blood was on the hands of the Israeli government, said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group that represents some of the relatives, and it called on the public to “bring the nation to a halt.”
The message was echoed by Israel’s largest labor union, which declared a strike beginning Monday morning, and by Yair Lapid, the Israeli opposition leader.
The Families Forum said hundreds of thousands of people were protesting around the country on Sunday evening, but it was not possible to verify the figure. The Israeli police, which said that five people had been arrested during the protests in Jerusalem, declined to provide any estimates of crowd sizes.
