More than ten thousand people in the Swiss capital joined together for a mass demonstration in solidarity with the Gaza Strip and in rejection of the Israeli aggression. Protestors condemned the international silence surrounding the massacre of Palestinians.
Jordanian King Abdullah II, not known for strong criticism of the Israelis, said in Amman today that there must be a united position to stop them.The American administration continues to publically back the Israeli line that this is “necessary defense” against the weapons of the occupied.
Holding signs reading, “Israel is a terrorist,” and “We are all Palestinians,” thousands of residents of Bern heeded the call from trade unions, political parties and civil society organizations to stand up. The Socialist and Green parties participated along with members of the federal government.
The Swiss government holds the Israeli government in good standing, something that its citizens demand change. “Cut off military cooperation with the Israelis and work to stop the barbaric aggression against the people of Gaza,” organizers called.
Taking the lead in a massive march today, Swiss party leaders, parliamentarians and jurists implored the Swiss government to pressure the Israeli government to sever both military and economic cooperation and to work as the custodian of the Geneva Conventions issued in 1949 from the “neutral city.”
“Israeli military leaders and politicians must be taken before international tribunals,” demonstrators said, echoing calls throughout the Gaza Strip, West Bank and Jerusalem to try Barak, Livni and Olmert, among others, for war crimes.
Today Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni made a public display of calling on outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to “immediately accept a ceasefire.” Still bombing Gaza “out of existence,” Barak and Livni are covered for either direction the local electorate goes, or that of the calls for international trials.
Among the speakers in Bern was a woman who called for the revocation of the Nobel Peace Prize, oddly presented to Israeli President Shimon Peres, and the allocation of 7 January each year as “Gaza Day,” in commemoration of the massacres and the largest of the five bombings of UNRWA schools. She also called to activate the full boycott of all things Israeli.
In the same context a letter was delivered to the Egyptian Embassy in the Swiss capital on behalf of the European campaign to lift the siege on Gaza, demanding a permanent and legal opening of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza.
For his part the deputy in the Swiss Parliament who visited Gaza as part of the Free Gaza Movement, called on the Swiss to fully break relations with the Israelis, and insisted that the country help the people trapped inside the Gaza Strip.
The President of the Green Party and the representative of the Socialist Party also spoke.
The continuing demonstrations and protests in Switzerland condemn the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and include a protest tent placed in front of the headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva. Organizers say it will remain until the war against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is over, which includes siege, closure and occupation.
For its part the Association of Muslims in Bern condemned today the international silence, including from official Switzerland, as "genocide against the Palestinian people," and denounced "the policy of double standards in the international arena." The Association invoked international law and issued its “surprise at the denial of the right of resistance that was approved by the norms of international law to those who are occupied and displaced."
Solidarity activities continue worldwide.
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