Israelis to protest Iran attack amid growing web campaign

By Haggai Matar March 20, 2012 | Edit

Following a growing number of online grassroots peace initiatives, activists are calling for the first significant demonstration against the sounding war drums.

First came the Iranian women, with a series of video clips made especially for International Women’s Day, speaking out against war from a feminist perspective. Then came the Israeli reply, with the Coalition of Women for Peace publishing a declaration stating they “oppose the inflammatory rhetoric of war mongers and the recently advertised plan of the Israeli government to attack Iran. Such an assault is not likely to stop the Iranian nuclear plan, but is likely to lead to regional war, loss of human life and a long term environmental damage.”

To this the Iranian group responded with enthusiasm, and called for an end to militarization and sanctions. In an interview with Ha’aretz (Hebrew), one of the Iranian women said that while her group began the struggle, resistance to the war is spreading throughout many groups in Iran.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqZ7vXNT3ys[/youtube]

Then, on Saturday night, online anti-war activism took a sharp rise following an Israeli couple’s initiative to dedicate “love posters” to the Iranian people. The Israeli posters were soon answered by Iranian ones, and today a new Facebook photo album started giving voice to Iranians who are not only against the war, but also openly criticize their government’s nuclear vision, stating they seek only peace and democracy.

Iranian man against the war and the bomb (source: Iran for Peace and Democracy)

Perhaps it was all of these web grassroots initiatives that led several Israeli activists to declare an anti-war demonstration, set to take place this coming Saturday night. Within hours, some 700 Israelis said they would attend – a considerable number in such short time and for such a cause, in local terms. “We will not agree to an irresponsible Israeli attack in Iran, leading to a war with an unknown end-date and casualty count,” write the activists. “Polls show: Most of the Israeli public opposes the attack being planned by Netanyahu. Even the leading brass of the Israeli security establishment, past and present, opposes such an attack.”

They then go on to blame Netanyahu for planning a war in order to divert public attention from burning social and economic questions that set ablaze the summer J14 protest, and could get people out on the streets again this coming spring or summer. “But this week, we saw something amazing. The internet allowed us to convey messages to citizens on the other side and receive messages back from them. Messages of peace, solidarity and hope. This exciting and refreshing dialogue leads to one clear conclusion: we, the citizens of Israel and Iran, are not enemies. Our leaders are inciting a disastrous war – and we’re all trying to prevent it. Instead of being dragged into a regional war – we demand a solution of peace among all the region’s peoples.”

Poster for the demonstration on Saturday

Poster advertising the demonstration on Saturday

It now remains to be seen if the same fear of war, the same faith and hope, the same humanly brotherhood and sisterhood that got Israelis to write messages of love and peace to Iranians – will also get them out on the streets to protest against the government’s war plans.

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TEST TEST GAL Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence. We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies. This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza. We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives. Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.

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