"We thought the public should understand the pain and suffering the Nazis caused the Jews ... Unfortunately, we are paying the price for the immense pain suffered by the Jews during the Holocaust."
"There is no comparison between our suffering and that of the Jewish people in the Holocaust, ... but everyone should understand that we are suffering too, as a result of what the Germans did to the Jews."
"was not only a crime against humanity but one of the most abhorrent crimes in modern history. ... And at the same time as we unreservedly condemn the crimes perpetrated by the Nazis against the Jews of Europe, we categorically reject the exploitation of the Holocaust by the Zionists to justify their crimes and harness international acceptance of the campaign of ethnic cleansing and subjection,"
"There is nothing more patronizing, arrogant or presumptuous than to tell people who have freely elected one political movement or another, that it is a cancer. One can't help but be disgusted by people who support [Gaza massacre] and then buy blankets for the handicapped children that remain alive. You can't kill the Gazans and cry over them too."
"Going by his most recent statements and the descriptions in Jerusalem of his activities, one might have formed the impression that here we have a "Zionist prince:" He was active in initiating a Euro-Israeli conference to advance Israel's integration into the EU, he has declared that Operation Cast Lead was a "defensive measure" and he has rejected calls in Europe for investigation of "war crimes committed by the Israel Defense Forces.""
The harshness of the Zionist massacres in Gaza district, the savage Israeli attacks on the Palestinian land and the Arab and international support for Israel were the motives of the protests that were held by ULDY in all its braches all over Lebanese districts in addition to the central activity that was done through an open Protest/Sit-in in front of the ESCWA (home to UN offices) building in downtown Beirut.
The Branches' Activities
Nabatiyeh branch in Southern Lebanon carried out, a series of actions, including lighting candles in the Nabatiyeh square. Flyers distributed during the activities called for the Arab people to take a united stand and express solidarity with the Palestinian people and the people of Gaza, by all means.
A solidarity protest was also done in Adloun, another southern village. A lot of statements were raised to condemn the Zionist aggressions, and attack the treacherous Arab leaders.
A similar solidarity protest was done in Sidon, which saluted the people of Gaza and condemned the vicious attacks in the Palestinian lands.
In Tyr, ULDY branch had a protest with the participation of the social organizations active in the area…
In Salima, a village in Mount Lebanon, ULDY organized a photo exhibition in the center of the village, which displayed pictures from Gaza portraying the harshness of Israeli terrorism, and raised Palestinian flags in the village. The participants then moved in a rally that went across the roads of the village.
Aley Branch in Mount Lebanon also participated in the protest organized by a coalition of many political parties in the area.
In Bekaa Valley, the Ein branch organized a march protesting the Arab abandonment of the Palestinian cause. Candles were lit and flyers were handed to cars on the side of the road.
At the same, Mashghara branch spread out through most of the western Bekaa, to perform a series of activities, which included collecting donations and distributing flyers that call for the solidarity with the people of Gaza.
A campaign was launched from Baalbak also in Bekaa Valley, in the form of an open sit-in, similar to the central protest in front of the ESCWA, to launch a series of activities throughout the Bekaa regions.
In the north of Lebanon, the Tripoli branch participated in a sit-in with the other parties and political organizations in the area. Speeches were made to condemn the Arab cowardice and the imperialist terrorism practiced daily in the occupied Palestinian lands. This terrorism reached its peak through the Israeli massacres against the people of Gaza.
ESCWA our permanent station
In addition to the activities of the branches, ULDY continued in its central movement in the open protest/sit-in in front of the UN headquarters in Beirut (ESCWA), which was held with the participation of a number of Lebanese and Palestinian leftist youth organizations, and this open protest became the start of a lot of the effective activities.
The beginning of the Open Protest
"Down with the raids of the Arabic silence!" as soon as the news of the Zionist attack on Gaza was heard and the news of the massacre that killed 200 Palestinian spread, many leftist organizations started gathering around this slogan in front of the ESCWA to put a plan of the actions that we will be taken in the coming days.
The organizations conducted a meeting and agreed on launching the open sit-in in front of ESCWA building under the title "Supporting the resistance in Gaza, together against the repressive and silent Arab regimes". The open sit- in was also meant to be a start point for every move supporting Gaza and for the activities held in front of the Arab embassies denouncing the position of their countries toward what's happening in Gaza. They also agreed to organize, on the second day, a sit in front of Egypt's embassy. On the first day the media started visiting the sit-in were Bassem Sheet spoke on behalf of the organizations present in the sit-in and he said: "Since the morning the Israeli warplanes are bombarding Gaza in strategy similar to July 2006 war: formal Arab support for the blockade, and organized plans to eliminate resistance. The daily Israeli aggression on Gaza and all Palestine is not an Israeli aggression only but a war initiated by the Zionist state in alliance with the Arab repressive regimes”. After reading the statement, Protesters started shouting "they are killing our people", "the child in Gaza is as valuable as the child in Greece", and "we should kick out all the ambassadors of conspiring countries"….
Towards the Egyptian embassy
The day of the Egyptian Embassy came, the leftist protestors at the ESCWA headed towards the "Wretched embassy", as some have called it, carrying statements that demanded the Egyptian regime to stop cooperating with the Zionists and help in ending to the siege on Gaza. The number of youth crowd to the Egyptian embassy on Sunday was great, the logos were as tough as the Egyptian regime, and what they were saying expressed the voice of the Arab streets.
"Palestine is the blood that flows in the veins of all the revolutionaries on this earth, it is the proof of the deterioration of these fascist regimes that govern most of the countries across the continents, it is the proof that a better world that it is desperately needed, we announce that we will not remain silent, we will shout out laud long live the resistance".
Towards the League of Arab States
The second protest was in front of the Arab League in Ashrafeye, where the protestors where very angry because of the delay of the Arab Summit. There the Palestinian flag was raised, and the protestors kept saying, "No for diplomatic relations with the Zionist State", "Open Rafah’s Border Crossing and let the living pass, don’t after they die".
A note was submitted to the Arab League's office demanding all the Arab countries that have diplomatic relations with the Zionist State (Egypt, Jordan, and Mauritania) to cut these relations and close all the embassies of the enemy and expel their ambassadors, the note also asks the government and states that have economic partnerships with Israel like Morocco, Qatar, Tunis and Amman to cancel all these agreements. It asked the Syrian government to stop all direct and indirect negotiations with Israel, and the Lebanese government to stop the social and the economical siege on the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, it also asks to open the boards especially Rafah's Border Crossing to supply the resistance and the people with what they need from supplies and weapons. It appealed to the Arab people to take action and impose these claims to their governments and regimes.
Protest in front of the EU commission and Canadian Embassy
In response to the EU and Canadian position concerning the Israeli aggression on Gaza, youth left organizations in Lebanon arranged two sit-ins in front of the European commission in Beirut and the Canadian Embassy in Lebanon. The organizations denounced the formal European position that turned a blind eye on the massacres that took place and supported the fierce Zionist acts in Gaza. The organizations also called for the European commission to respond to the voices of the European people and work to stop the aggression.
On the other hand, the Left organizations arranged another sit-in at the Canadian embassy denouncing the Canadian "No vote" against condemning Israel in the Human Rights Council of the UN and forming an investigating committee to look into Gaza massacres.
Spontaneous activities
On parallel the left youth initiated a series of activities in different regions in Beirut were they distributed statements that condemn the silence of the Arab regimes toward what was happening in Gaza. Moreover, protesters organized a series of spontaneous activities on the Egyptian embassy and surrounded it several times, in many forms. In the first day, protesters surrounded the embassy with the Palestinian flags that was soon removed by the security forces bordering it with a number of shoes that started increasing daily as protesters called out for all Lebanese citizens who feel that Egypt is engaged in the recent events to throw a shoe on the embassy as a gift from the Lebanese people to the Egyptian regime. On the third day protesters slept on the road in front of the Egyptian embassy were they covered their bodies with the Palestinian flags, blocked the road for a while and were then separated by the security forces. ESCWA protesters continued with their spontaneous moves so they fabricated a gigantic shoe that was placed in front of the Egypt's embassy and wrote on it statements that condemn Egypt's formal position toward the situation in Gaza, they also bordered the siege with the Israeli flag and then burned it.
On the other hand, the Union of Lebanese Democratic Youth conducted a protest in front of the Egypt's embassy sole entrance with the participation of some international and Arab delegates. This protest aimed at delivering a message that Lebanese people can block all the entrances of the embassy just like they blocked Rafah Crossing.
Protests at the US embassy
Afterwards, the Lebanese and Palestinian left organizations organized two protests in front of the US embassy whereby 9 protesters were injured in the first one and 20 in the second one due to the interference of the Lebanese security forces that didn’t allow protesters to move toward the embassy. In addition, the organizations arranged a one day tour to all the Arab embassies were they put a coffin in front of each embassy, raised their slogans that condemn and refuse the acts of the Arab regimes toward the situation in Gaza and asked them to remove the American bases from their countries and to cut off all kinds of relations with Israel and stop the negotiations taking place.
Regional and International activities in Lebanon
In addition, Union of Lebanese democratic youth and Arab youth organizations members of WFDY conducted a synchronized protest in front of ESCWA- UN were they lighted candles and tied their hands with chains. At 6 pm of that day protesters in 8 countries read a common statement that condemns the silence towards Gaza massacres.
Moreover, Union of Lebanese democratic youth hosted in the open sit-in an international event in collaboration with WFDY were a press conference was held in presence of a representative from Greek Communist Youth and some Arab youth organizations that expressed their solidarity with people of Gaza and denounced the Israeli aggression. In addition, these delegates participated in a many activities at Egypt's embassy and US embassy.
In Tyr, Union of Lebanese Democratic Youth organized an international solidarity event where many representatives from Palestinian, Arab and international youth organizations and WFDY participated and expressed their solidarity with Gaza. On the other hand, Lebanese and Palestinian youth organizations conducted 5 lectures on boycotting American and Israeli products and on the rights of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
"A surgical attack. Surgical destruction. ... The precise cuts shows that there was a clear plan behind the attacks, but we haven't gotten answers to our queries. In what way did the Department of Finance threaten Israel's security? The Cenus Office? The Department of Agriculture? The Legislative Council?
In the end it all boils down to one word. Why?"
"6. Swedes
Once a antismite always a antismite.The teach their kids the same hate that Hams and Hezfulah and the rest of jew hating arabs teach but in a modern way, not with suicide bombing but with suicide action.SHAME ON YOU.
sia - usa (01/27/2009 12:29)"
"we have to also recall the overwhelming responsibility of Hamas,... I intentionally say this here - Hamas is a terrorist movement and it has to be denounced as such"
"Over the past fifty years, elite Israeli nationals have perpetrated conflict and injustice in Africa, fueled by and for minerals. Operatives associated with the Israeli military or intelligence services — the Mossad — maintain strategic criminal syndicates in competition and in partnership with other syndicates involving men like Philippe De Moerloose, Louis Michel, Viscount Etienne Davignon, John Bredenkamp and Tony Buckingham.
Israeli trained shock troops became Mobutu's bodyguards, with Mossad advisers. According to a report by the American Jewish Committee: after 1980 "Mossad agents, military emissaries, and a small group of private businessmen… replaced diplomats as Israel's main interlocutors with African leaders and political (mainly opposition) groups." The report cites rising involvement of private defense and security interests, especially in Angola, DRC and Central Africa Republic, since 1992."
"Dear Friends, Mr. Louis Michel is not a diplomat. He is a diamond Merchant. Louis Michel is deeply involved (up to here) in the illicit plundering of the richness of R.D. Congo with Mitchy Express, his private company.
Whereas Louis Michel tells the world over that he does an humanitarian and philanthropic work in the R.D. Congo, local activists discovered with shock, at the time of his recent voyage to Congo's Western Kasaï province, that Mr. Louis Michel has a company of exploitation of diamond in the city of Tshikapa and carries out even an unfair competition (with the complicity of Kabila regime) to a Congolese entrepreneur by the name of Mr. Ntumba, owner of NTUMINES company."
"Louis Michel is EU Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian AID, a gatekeeper position that insures that millions of Congolese people suffer miserably. Louis Michel has been one of Kabila's strongest allies, and he played a pivotal roll in the 2006 electioneering of Joseph Kabila's "victory." Previous to his EU posting, Michel was a Belgian parliamentarian, minister and Vice Prime Minister, until 2004. He is reportedly a diamond merchant exploiting the diamond rich Tshikapa region of DRC. Michel also has ties to Congo's diamonds through the Societe Miniere De Bakwanga (MIBA), a mainstay of Belgian neocolonialism in Congo; Michel's son is reportedly directly involved at MIBA"
"–During the 8 years that preceded this winter's conflict, 18 Israelis have been killed by rockets from Gaza. That is in average two deaths per year. But during the 3 years that preceded the war, 2005-2008, Israel killed 1,250 Palestinians in Gaza."
"-I've never seen so many traumatized people after a war, I've never seen such a war, directly directed against the civilian population, against women and children without any distinction. This is a new form of war crimes, which should actually be called terrorism."
"Vi kom i kontakt med Ulf Cahn genom att vi gav pengar till Förenade Israelinsamlingen för att stödja arbetet med judar som flyttar hem till Israel från olika håll i världen. (Han besökte församlingen under min tid också, och är för övrigt mycket intressant att lyssna till.) Vi ansåg att ett engagemang till stöd för Israel tillhörde en församlings uppdrag, och att Israels utveckling tillhörde händelseförloppet i ändens tid. Israel som folk och som nation skulle upprättas till fullo, när tiden var inne. Att det judiska folket samlas från jordens ändar till sitt egendomsland betraktade vi därför som ett uppfyllande av de bibliska profetiorna.
Vi trodde att det judiska folket skulle återfå hela det land som Gud gav åt dem, enligt Gamla Testamentets Skrifter. De skulle även bli frälsta när de förstod att den Messias de längtade efter skulle komma, är den Messias vi väntar på ska återkomma.
Israelsynen är på intet sätt anmärkningsvärd i Knutby, utan den förekommer i alla olika grenar av kristenheten. Men, ja, vår eskatologi påverkade naturligtvis hur vi såg på Israel i vår tid."
"And we also salute all the forces, movements and solidarity groups, from around the entire world which acted in solidarity with our people, led by the diverse freedom-lovers. Especially we pay tribute to the left-wing and communist states, forces and parties, movements of solidarity with the Palestinian people and in particular Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, as well as other forces and movements.
Long live the Palestinian national unity,
Glory and eternity for our innocent martyrs,
and Forward for the sake of unity, freedom and democracy
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Palestinian People's Party, Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Democratic Front for Peace and Equality"
"To justify itself, state terrorism manufactures terrorists: it sows hate and harvests alibis. Everything indicates that this slaughterhouse of Gaza, which according to its perpetrators is for finishing off the terrorists, will achieve boosting them."
"...you're a terrorist and should be treated as such. We will take care of you like we take care of every terrorist; we will take care of you just like Hamas"
"So we should let them know that the Arabs are not like that; they are the poison of the earth and are unwilling to accept Israel as a Jewish and democratic state"
"Träffade en journalist som undrade varför det skrivs så lite om Sderot. En person sa lakoniskt: "Blod verka sälja bättre än fakta." med tydlig pik åt medias partiskhet, skriver Ekman i sin blogg."
