University of Arizona students rally for Palestine

Photo: Protesters gathered outside the federal building in downtown Tucson today calling for an end to the occupation of Palestine and food for the hungry there. Photo Brenda Norrell

As the human rights abuses, violence and deaths continue in Palestine, the United States gives Israel over $10 million a day -- money that could be used instead for people who are hungry, sick, wounded, tortured and cold

By Brenda Norrell
http://www.bsnorrell.blogpsot.com/

TUCSON -- University of Arizona students are rallying for Palestinian human rights today and marched to the federal building at noon, Monday, January 28, 2008.
The Voices of Opposition began with an information booth at the center of campus this morning. Justin Mascouf was among the students who said that Americans are misinformed about Israel and Palestine.
"The most important thing for Americans to know is that most of the foreign aid is going to Israel," Mascouf said.
Further, although supplies were able to reach Palestine last night, Mascouf said that the preceding days showed the truth about where Egypt's alliances are. "People had to break through the wall for supplies, food and medicine."
Skylar Hijazi said there is a misconception in the United States that opposing Israel's actions in regards to Palestine represents antisemitism.
"This about people," added Steven Thorpe. "People are dying unnecessarily."
Hijazi pointed out that the ongoing collective form of punishment of all Palestinians is torture. "We are condoning torture," he said, referring to the United States' role in the widespread suffering in Palestine.
Referring to the United border wall under construction south of Tucson on the Arizona/Mexico border, known locally as the US Apartheid Wall, Hijazi said, "Walls in general are bad news."
In the pamphlets offered today at the University of Arizona campus, the group points out that Palestinians continue to suffer because of censorship.
AP is the major source of news in the United States. "Virtually all of AP's news reports about the Israel-Palestinian conflict go through its bureau in Israel," the group's pamphlet states.
Further, the media has censored the fact that there are 8,000 Palestinians in prisons who are routinely tortured and many have not been accused of a crime. The Geneva-based Defense of Children and Save the Children reported that 373 children under the age of 18 were being held in Israeli prisons in 2004.
The most heinous of crimes committed by Israeli soldiers is censored by AP. On October 17, 2004, an Israeli soldier shot a 14-year-old Palestinian in the stomach for no reason. An AP cameraman sent video footage of the unprovoked shooting to the bureau in Israel. The AP Israeli Bureau erased the footage.
The U.S. gives Israel over $10 million per day.

(Watch brief video of rally at the Tucson federal building/Video by Brenda Norrell)