This is somewhat untimely sent - Charles
Thousands in Detroit march against U.S.-Israeli policy
Thousands of Lebanese-Americans rallied against the Israeli strikes on Aug. 4 in Detroit near the Tunnel to Canada Thousands of Lebanese-Americans rallied against the Israeli strikes on Aug. 4 in Detroit near the Tunnel to Canada Cite police, water shut-offs at home
By Diane Bukowski The Michigan Citizen
DETROIT - Over 2,000 protesters massed in downtown Detroit Aug. 4 in solidarity with the people of Lebanon and Palestine. They marched from the U.S.-Canada tunnel past crowds thronging the Ribs 'N Soul Festival and a Tigers game, to Grand Circus Park.
The rally was the first held outside Dearborn, where marchers have protested the Israeli land and air assaults on Lebanon and Palestine on a daily basis. So far, nearly 800 Lebanese, mainly civilians including many children, and dozens of Palestinians have died. Israeli has sustained fewer casualties, from rockets launched by the liberation fighters of Hezbollah.
"We felt it was important to bring the demonstrations to Detroit," said Jerry Goldberg of the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice, which called the Aug. 4 protest. It was held in conjunction with the National Days of Action Against Israeli Aggression, being observed in dozens of U.S. cities and across the world.
"This current conflict does not result from Hezbollah's kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers," Goldberg said. "It's a continuation of 50 years of terror paid for by the United States against Palestine and Lebanon. There are 10,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons right now, and 2800 Palestinians have been killed since 2002 alone."
The recent massacre of civilians at Qana in Lebanon, a replay of a 1996 massacre there under the previous Israeli occupation, was particularly devastating to Arab-Americans living in Dearborn, Qana's sister city.
"It's incredible how that city can be targeted again for the second time in ten years," said Hasan Nawash of the Palestine House, who spoke at the rally. "There are still some American citizens trapped in the south of Lebanon, and people here have relatives there as well. It's disturbing that our government continues to support such outrages against our own citizens."
The Council of Arab American Organizations brought many of the demonstrators to the event. They turned out despite heightened surveillance measures announced recently by the FBI against supporters of Hezbollah, particularly those from metro Detroit.
Osama Siblani, publisher of the Arab American News of Dearborn and spokesman for the Council of Arab American Organizations, responded to charges that demonstrators here are chanting in support of Hezbollah, in a Detroit Free Press article.
"Who should they chant for?" he said. "George Bush, the one who's sending Israeli bombs to kill their relatives, to kill more people? If they want to prosecute us, prosecute us. Let them get their buses, line them up and haul us out."
Dearborn is the center of the largest Arab community in the western hemisphere. In southeast Michigan, about 300,000 residents have ties to the Arab world. Many speakers at the rally, however, said the interests of all people are at stake in the current conflict.
Maureen Taylor of the Michigan Welfare Rights Organization likened the terrorism of the Israeli invaders and occupiers to terrorism exerted at home in Detroit, where thousands of Detroiters have their water shut off because they are too poor to pay their bills.
Ron Scott of the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, Inc. said police in Detroit and the surrounding communities have also been guilty of terrorism, killing innocent civilians.
Elena Herrada, who represents Latinos Unidos of Michigan, a community defense group, said the Latin American community as well needs to stand in solidarity with the Arab people of the Middle East.
"An exciting development is that Venezuela just pulled its Israeli ambassador," said Herrada. "Israel attacking Lebanon is just another expansion of that war [US war in Iraq]. We must oppose U.S. spending on the war, which is draining resources for our people, and support anti-war slates running in elections across the country."
Locally, said Herrada, United Auto Workers Local 2334 President David Sole is running for State Senator on the Green Party slate against incumbent Senator Debbie Stabenow, who has firmly supported the war in Iraq.
The Congress of Arab American Organizations is holding a National Demonstration to Oppose U.S.-Israeli Terrorism Against Palestine and Lebanon, in Washington, D.C. Sat. Aug. 12. Call 313-319-0870, 313-582-4888, or 313-581-1201 for bus tickets from Detroit. For more information, go to www.mecawi.org.
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