MK Mohammad Barakeh
Arab-Israelis protest ‘Israeli aggression in Lebanon, Gaza
Some 2,000 people rally against war. MK Bishara: Jewish and Arab civilians are victims of the same policy
Some 2,000 supporters of the Arab-Israeli National Democratic Assembly party held a rally Friday in Tira in protest of “the Israeli aggression in Lebanon and Gaza.”
The protesters, led by National Democratic Assembly MKs Azmi Bishara and Jamal Zahalka, called for an immediate ceasefire.
“Civilians, Jew and Arabs alike, are the victims of the same policy,” Bishara said. “We said from the beginning ‘no to the war’ and ‘yes to negotiations’ for the sake of both nations. We said Israel would get mixed up in Lebanon and complicate the situation, but instead of listening to us Israel is inciting against us.”
Hadash party chairman MK Mohammad Barakeh said of the war in Lebanon “innocent people from both sides of the border are paying the ultimate price for this vile and crazy war.”
“The civilian deaths must encourage Israel to return to the negotiating table and strengthen calls for a ceasefire and Israel’s return to the international border.”
MK Zahalka said “we all know that eventually the sides will reach the negotiating table, and therefore this unnecessary spilling of blood must end.”
He said that it is not Israel but the US that is calling the shots with regard to the Lebanon war.
