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Protesters across Arab countries call for immediate ceasefire in Gaza

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Original article by Peoples Dispatch republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Protesters gather in Amman in Jordan demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Photo: Al Mayadeen

People took to the streets in a number of countries across West Asia and North Africa after the UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire. However, Israel refused to heed the call and continued its attacks on Gaza on Tuesday

Large-scale protests broke out in different parts of West Asia and North Africa on Monday, March 25 in support of Palestine with people chanting slogans against the Israeli war in Gaza and demanding an immediate ceasefire. People took to the streets in a number of countries in the aftermath of the UN Security Council resolution that called for a ceasefire.

Jordanian security forces fired tear gas shells to disperse protesters who tried to storm the Israeli embassy in Amman. Thousands of these protestors chanted slogans in solidarity with the people in Gaza and in support of the Al-Aqsa mosque. Many of them carried Palestinian flags which they hoisted in nearby buildings.

Similar protests took place in other parts of the country. A day before, Jordanian forces had prevented a large group of people from marching to the Israeli embassy.

Protests were also organized in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and Cairo in Egypt as well on Monday where hundreds gathered to chant slogans in support of Palestine and demand an immediate ceasefire.

Hundreds also gathered in Tangiers in Morocco to demonstrate against the continued Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

Protests were also organized in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem and in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday. Hundreds of Palestinians, defying Israeli dictates and ongoing attacks, took to the streets in the morning to call for a ceasefire.

The protests followed the UNSC resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire. The resolution was adopted after the US, which had blocked three similar previous resolutions, decided to abstain. All the other members of the Security Council supported the resolution.

The resolution called for an immediate ceasefire during the month of Ramadan and for working towards a permanent cessation of hostilities and the release of all hostages. It was welcomed by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas and most of the countries in the region.

Hamas reiterated its demand for a permanent ceasefire that would lead to the complete withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza and the return of all Palestinians displaced due to the war over five months.

Nearly the entire population of Gaza, around 2.3 million, has been displaced due to the Israeli war which has killed more than 32,000 and wounded close to 74,000 Palestinians.

The Iranian foreign ministry welcomed the UNSC resolution, calling it a positive step and demanded its immediate implementation. It also demanded the lifting of all blockades on the supply of aid to Gaza and the opening of all border crossings to the besieged territory and immediate resumption of reconstruction.

Israel has however rejected the resolution. It carried out fresh attacks on Gaza on Tuesday, killing dozens of Palestinians.

The resolution accepted by the Security Council is binding on all members of the UN. However, only a fresh vote in the Security Council can decide the future course of action in case one particular party chooses not to implement it.

Original article by Peoples Dispatch republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

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WSWS on “Free speech” hypocrisy following Charlie Hebdo

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The World Socialist Website comments on Western “Free Speech” hypocrisy after the strange events of Charlie Hebdo in Paris.

While I support free speech, some reporting has been worse than useless. Does anyone know if there were two or three attackers yet? Were they Kalashnikovs or AK47s? I know what a rocket launcher is, but what’s a rocket grenade launcher? Do you really believe that an attacker left his identity card in the getaway vehicle? How fortunate … and haven’t we heard that one before many times?

“Free Speech” hypocrisy in the aftermath of the attack on Charlie Hebdo

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Throughout Europe and the United States, the claim is being made that the attack on the magazine Charlie Hebdo was an assault on the freedom of the press and the unalienable right of journalists in a democratic society to express themselves without loss of freedom or fear for their lives. The killing of the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists and editors is being proclaimed an assault on the principles of free speech that are, supposedly, held so dear in Europe and the United States. The attack on Charlie Hebdo is, thus, presented as an another outrage by Muslims who cannot tolerate Western “freedoms.” From this the conclusion must be drawn that the “war on terror”—i.e., the imperialist onslaught on the Middle East, Central Asia and North and Central Africa—is an unavoidable necessity.

In the midst of this orgy of democratic hypocrisy, no reference is made to the fact that the American military, in the course of its wars in the Middle East, is responsible for the deaths of at least 15 journalists. In the on-going narrative of “Freedom of Speech Under Attack,” there is no place for any mention of the 2003 air-to-surface missile attack on the offices of Al Jazeera in Baghdad that left three journalists dead and four wounded.

Nor is anything being written or said about the July 2007 murder of two Reuters journalists working in Baghdad, staff photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen and driver Saeed Chmagh. Both men were deliberately targeted by US Apache gunships while on assignment in East Baghdad.

The American and international public was first able to view a video of the cold-blooded murder of the two journalists as well as a group of Iraqis—taken from one of the gunships—as the result of WikiLeaks’ release of classified material that it had obtained from an American soldier, Corporal Bradley Chelsea Manning.

And how has the United States and Europe acted to protect WikiLeaks’ exercise of free speech? Julian Assange, the founder and publisher of WikiLeaks, has been subjected to relentless persecution. Leading political and media figures in the United States and Canada have denounced him as a “terrorist” and demanded his arrest, with some even calling publicly for his murder. Assange is being pursued on fraudulent “rape” charges concocted by American and Swedish intelligence services. He has been compelled to seek sanctuary in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, which is under constant guard by British police who will seize Assange if he steps out of the embassy. As for Chelsea Manning, she is presently in prison, serving out a 35-year sentence for treason.

That is how the great capitalist “democracies” of North America and Europe have demonstrated their commitment to free speech and the safety of journalists!

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