Revolution #152, January 11, 2009
Harlem Speak-Out Against Israeli Massacre in Gaza
We received the following report from a reader:
Sunday, January 4, Saint Mary’s Episcopal Church in Harlem: 30 people attended a speak-out against Israel’s U.S.-backed slaughter in Gaza.
Father Lawrence Lucas, an activist Catholic priest; Nellie Hester Bailey, of the Black Anti-War Coalition; and Carl Dix, from the Revolutionary Communist Party, spoke about the situation unfolding in Gaza and the background—the founding of Israel and its history as an instrument of U.S. imperialist domination in that region of the world.
People in the audience were outraged at the carnage in the wake of Israeli bombs and missiles and condemned the lies and distortions spread in the major media. Several people denounced New York mayor Michael Bloomberg for flying to Israel to express support for its assault against Gaza. And, Barack Obama was strongly criticized by some and roundly denounced by others for his blood curdling support of Israel in the past and his deafening silence in the face of the present atrocities.
One person stated, “Yesterday when I heard Israel had sent troops into Gaza, I started crying and couldn’t stop. How can they get away with that? The Palestinians have been through so much, how can this be allowed to happen again?” She had gone to a demonstration of thousands on Saturday and came to this meeting in Harlem because, “This has to stop. We have to do something.”
People united around organizing a mass outpouring of resistance in Harlem in a week: a march through the heart of Harlem followed by a rally; posters condemning Israel and the United States in every shop window and apartment building along 125th Street; hundreds of people wearing keys as symbols of Palestinians’ homes being taken from them yet again.
The meeting ended with people determined to mount real opposition. We will keep Revolution informed about how things develop here.
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