Protest

[susanstinson]

brownstargirl, a poet who so often writes amazing things in her lj, has been making powerful posts about the war in Lebanon, like this one about protesting "because we have souls."

Also, this was just fowarded by my friend, novelist Judy Frank:



Dear friend,

Saturday's peace march in Tel Aviv was mounted by a coalition of left-wing parties and non-parliamentary peace groups, Yesh Gvul included. Participation turned out much larger than anyone had foreseen ("over 2,500" according to Ha'aretz, "almost 5000" by Uri Avnery).

Bystanders looked on in amazement as the noisy demonstration chanted slogans against the war (one offered a Hebrew version of a Vietnam era cry: "Defence Minister Amir Peretz, how many kids have you killed so far ?"). The Israeli media have promoted the false impression of 100% unity behind the attack on Lebanon, and citizens seemed stunned to hear such outright voices of dissent.

Among the speakers at the concluding rally, Yesh Gvul coordinator Ishai Menuchin focussed on the war crimes being committed daily, calling on soldiers to refuse any part in such excesses, and warning that perpetrators will ultimately face justice, before Israeli courts if possible; if not, he promised that the movement would act to bring them before foreign courts.

Further protests are in preparation. The anti-war coalition is determined to step up its efforts, and we rely on our friends and supporters worldwide to spread the word about internal Israeli opposition to the war. We need your help and solidarity !

To soldiers and reservists: Yesh Gvul is operating its hot line with counselling for those refusing to take part in the Lebanon offensive (02.6250271)

Photographs from the march and rally will shortly go up on our website www.yeshgvul.org

Peretz Kidron
__._,_.___

******* YeshGvul Footnotes*******

1. For updates and info, visit Yesh Gvul's website: http://www.yeshgvul.org.il

2. Donations to support our campaign:

A. Send to
Yesh Gvul, PO Box 6953, Jerusalem 91068, Israel, or:
B. In the US you can make a tax deductible donation by sending a check to:
Refuser Solidarity Network
P.O. Box 53474
Washington DC
20009-9474
(202) 232-1100
Please write “Yesh Gvul” on the memo line! you can do the same with credit card
donations-through www.refusersolidarity.net and the "donate now" section.

3. If you got this forwarded, you may subscribe directly to the YeshGvul
newsgroup. Send a blank email to:
YeshGvul-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe , send an email to:
YeshGvul-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Comments

[slantedtruth.livejournal.com]

Ha! I used to work for that whole scene back in 1998 -- and 'yesh gvul' what i mutter to myself everytime the matzav really gets to me. it means there's a limit.

[susanstinson.livejournal.com]

I sent Judy a link to this article (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=711997), which you posted the other day, and know that she's passed it on, too.

[oneroom.livejournal.com]

How do you protest if you're only one person? Do you have to sign up with a group? How do you find a group? How do you encourage groups to protest? What if you don't want to be a leader?

[susanstinson.livejournal.com]

Oh, good questions, oneroom, I don't have the answers, that's for sure. But writers have a lot of options for activism as an individual person, including something as simple as a letter to the editor of a local paper. I know you have resources for people who sometimes use poetry as part of principled resistance or making change. And or you could trying something like googling for a local chapter of the AFSC, and see what they're doing. Around here, you wouldn't have to join a group, but simply show up for a protest that others have organized, or lick envelopes (or the online equivalent), whatever you're up for. And, yeah, there's a great scene in an old Barbara Kingsolver novel -- The Bean Trees? I can't remember which one -- where the protagonist realizes that she doesn't have to make the decisions for a movement -- in fact, that she wouldn't be able to do that if she wanted -- but just needs to show up and offer the information she has. So, if you don't want to be a leader, you can just show up and contribute what you're ready to give, and make the best of what you find until/unless you find yourself coming up with other ideas that you're moved to help try to make work. It's one of those not easy but maybe pretty simple things, you know?

[oneroom.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much. I wrote to an activist friend earlier today and she linked me to a calendar and I felt both encouraged and discouraged.

I am especially glad to be reminded that writers can be activists on the individual level.

I'm going to go check out the AFSC.

[susanstinson.livejournal.com]

:)