Uri Avnery and Gush Shalom group demonstrating. – A symbolic blood stain on the national flag. – More Photos by Rachel Avnery.
The car stopped for a moment. An elderly lady pushed her head out of the window and shouted; “Aren’t you ashamed of yourselves? Today is Holocaust Day, and you are demonstrating for Arabs?!”
“How can one demonstrate for Arabs, especially on Holocaust Day?
Well, it’s a good question. And there is a good answer.The answer expresses one of the lessons to be drawn from the Holocaust, a lesson that should be raised like a banner on Holocaust Day:
– That decent persons must come to the aid of a persecuted minority.
– That loyalty to your country does not justify agreement with the occupation of another country and the oppression of another people.
– That you must not accept an ideology telling you that you belong to a master nation, to a superior race, to a chosen people – and that other people are inferior and subhuman.… But Palestinians, and Arabs generally, are not considered full human beings…”
Uri Avnery is a longtime Israeli peace activist. Since 1948 has advocated the setting up of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. In 1974, Uri Avnery was the first Israeli to establish contact with PLO leadership. In 1982 he was the first Israeli ever to meet Yassir Arafat. He served 3 terms in the Israeli Parliament (Knesset), and is the founder of Gush Shalom (Peace Bloc)
[Via: Je Blog]
