TRNN talks to Baltimore-Palestine Solidarity about why they are protesting Senator Ben Cardin’s office and their response to the latest round of violence in Israel and Palestine
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Story Transcript
JAISAL NOOR, TRNN: Activists are rallying today in Baltimore as violence in Israel and Palestine has claimed dozens of lives over the past few weeks. They’re gathered in front of the offices of Sen. Ben Cardin, a Democrat, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Sen. Cardin’s office declined to comment, but in a statement he recently said he’s concerned and saddened by the increasing incidence of attacks on Israelis in recent days. The brutal attacks against men and women, young and old, religious and secular, soldiers and students, are deplorable terrorist acts which must be condemned forcefully and cease immediately.
OWEN SILVERMAN ANDREWS: It’s obvious that he’s presenting an ethnocentric view of the conflict in which Israeli Jewish lives are worth more than lives of people who are not part of his ethnic group. That was true also when he voted against the Iran peace deal. He sided with a minority fringe of his own party, went against the president because of pressure from the right-wing nationalist lobby on the issue. And so time and time again he’s proven that he’s more interested in protecting Jewish lives rather than all lives.
NOOR: Protesters also responded to comments made by Israel’s [UN] ambassador, Danny Danon.
CAPTION: “An entire generation of Palestinian youth is being brainwashed with bigotry, brought up to glorify violence and raised to dehumanize Jews…
“It’s no wonder that in this current wave of attacks, at least 9 of the attackers have been Palestinians under the age of 18.” –Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon
SAMMY ALQASEM: I would say this is just the natural reaction to any person, be they Palestinian or not, who is subject to oppression. Whether it be through the Palestinian case, 67 years of occupation and ethnic cleansing and genocide, or even here in Baltimore with hundreds of years of slavery, with segregation, racial discrimination in housing funding this beautiful area here in downtown while de-funding areas while the majority of the poor black population lives.
And so I say that this is, when you’re under that much oppression for that long of time, it’s purely rational to those people to react that way.
NOOR: With Cameron Granadino and Nadia Kanji, this is Jaisal Noor in Baltimore.
End
DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy.
