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Following last week’s terror attack in which eight Israelis died on the
Southern border with Egypt, the Israeli air force escalated its
bombardment of Gaza. On Saturday, despite predictions that the cycle of
violence would dissolve the rising social protest movement in Israel,
thousands poured onto the streets and chanted “Jews and Arabs refuse to
be enemies.†On Sunday, Hamas announced it has reached an
agreement for truce among the various resistance groups in Gaza but
Israel continued to bomb the Strip killing six, and splinter groups
continued to fire rockets into southern Israel.
Story Transcript
LIA TARACHANSKY, TRNN: Following last week’s terror attack against southern Israel by yet unidentified gunmen, Israel began bombing Gaza. The terror attack left eight Israelis dead. Israel’s bombardment of Gaza left 15 dead, and in retaliation Gazan resistance groups began launching a barrage of rockets against southern Israel, leading to another death and four injuries.
UNIDENTIFIED: Israeli security officials said seven other people were wounded, two of them children.
TARACHANSKY: On Sunday, Hamas, the party ruling Gaza, announced it reached a wide agreement among the various resistance groups to hold fire. The next day, the Israeli Security Cabinet announced it will also abide by the ceasefire rumored to have been negotiated by Egyptian mediators. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, declared launching another full-scale attack on Gaza would be ill advised at this point, based on the current political situation. The opposition, led by Tzipi Livni, disagreed, saying that by avoiding a large-scale military attack, Israel appeared weak. Since Sunday, however, splinter Palestinian groups continued to launch rockets into Israel, and the Israeli Air Force continued to bomb Gaza. An Israeli drone attack killed a local leader of the Islamic Jihad in Rafah city. On Wednesday night, Israel increased its bombardment of Gaza in the north, center, and south, killing six and injuring dozens. Following last Thursday’s terror attack that sparked the escalation, many predicted that Israel’s mass social protest movement against privatization and the cost of living would dissolve. The movement, which saw the largest demonstrations in Israel’s history, announced a silent march for Saturday in solidarity with the killed.
SIGN (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): We won’t let murders stop the welfare state.
TARACHANSKY: Despite the intention to remain silent, a group of protesters began chanting “Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies.”
CROWD (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies.
CROWD: No to another war that will end our movement.
TARACHANSKY: They were confronted by other protesters who attempted to drown out their chanting.
~~~
DEMONSTRATOR (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): You’re filming the margins of this movement, and that’s too bad.
TRNN (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): Why?
DEMONSTRATOR: This was a silent march, to respect everyone who was killed in the attack.
CROWD: Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies.
DEMONSTRATOR: You’re filming me against them in the background.
~~~
CROWD: The nation of Israel lives.
CROWD: In Israel and the territories we demand social justice.
CROWD: No peace, no welfare, overthrow the government.
DEMONSTRATOR (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): We’re yelling because we want jobs and budgets, not another round of killing. We identify with this grief, and out of this grief we’re shouting.
TARACHANSKY: Dr. Zuhair Tibi, a Palestinian-Israeli leader in the Hadash Party, was invited to speak before the crowd.
DR. ZUHAIR TIBI, HABASH PARTY, TAYBEH (SUBTITLED TRANSLATION): A hungry child is a hungry child. A person without a home is a person without a home. The hunger, the housing shortage, and the social demands have no religion and no nationality.
TARACHANSKY: He was momentarily interrupted by hecklers, but was quickly supported by the vast majority when thousands began chanting “Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies.”
CROWD: Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies.
TARACHANSKY: For The Real News, I’m Lia Tarachansky in Tel Aviv.
End of Transcript
DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy.
