BY VALERHE JOHNSON
BOSTON - In response to the Israeli government's violent attacks on the Palestinian people in the occupied West Bank, more than 100 students turned out at a protest at Government Center here September 30. The action was called by a number of student associations at Boston-area campuses, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University, Tufts, and Wellesley.

Kashif Riaz, a member of the MIT Arab Association, explained to the demonstrators that Israeli violence against the Palestinians "is a symptom of a larger problem" and that the "U.S. government is an official sponsor." Riaz noted that Washington has backed the Israeli government as it tosses out the latest Palestinian/Israeli agreements. "The U.S. bears some responsibility" for the actions of the Israeli government, he said.

Northeastern University student Samer Abughazaleh explained that protest was needed to condemn the oppression of the Palestinians. "We want peace, but peace will only come from real justice," he said. "Oppression will lead to more problems" he explained pointing to the $4 billion the U.S. government grants to Tel Aviv every year.

Further protests were scheduled at MIT, Tufts, and Harvard for the next week.

BY CHESTER WILSON

WASHINGTON, D.C. - "Stop the killing, stop the crime, Israel out of Palestine," shouted demonstrators outside the Israeli embassy here Friday afternoon, September 27.

Some 300 protesters came out for the picket line called by the Presidents of National Arab-American Organizations, the American Muslim Council, and others. "Resolution 242, United Nations where are you" and "Peace for Palestine, justice for Palestine" were also popular chants at the demonstration. UN Security Council resolution 242 calls for the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from Arab territories seized in 1967.

An immediate protest against the Israeli military's assault on the Palestinians was organized September 26 outside the Israeli embassy. The 30 participants in that protest, called by Middle East Report editor Geoff Hartman, helped to build the larger action that took place the next day.

Many of the protesters were students from area campuses. Thirteen copies of the socialist newsweekly the Militant were sold at the Friday demonstration, where participants were eager for analysis of the history of the struggle of the Palestinian people against Israeli occupation and reports on other struggles around the world.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home