Bombs drop, civilians die.

Following the Nov. 14 Twitter announcement of the Israeli Defense Force’s (IDF) “Pillar of Defense,” campaign against Palestine, continual air raids over the Gaza Strip proceeded to take numerous civilians lives.

The Israeli Defense Force said in a Twitter posting, “There are 2 main goals of this IDF operation: to protect Israeli civilians and to cripple the terrorist infrastructure in the #Gaza Strip.”

The worldwide reaction to the end of the campaign against Gaza became apparent through the protest demonstrations which were sparked almost overnight.

On Nov. 19, the first in a series of protests was organized outside the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco. Hundreds of Gaza supporters were met by a small group of Israeli supporters who waved Israeli flags while chanting.

Among the Israeli supporters was Alex Tripetin who said, “Israel is Palestine… It has the same rights..”

According to a Huffington Post article, sanctions were placed against Gazans which were considered illegal by the International Committee of the Red Cross under humanitarian law, after they elected a Hamas government in an openelection process.

One protestor, Howie Perlin, was chanting for Israel at the Nov. 19 action and said the reason he was there was to, “express that Israel doesn’t want bombs and rockets coming down on them and that there is another side to this conflict.”

According to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, the current Israeli civilian death toll since the beginning of operation “Pillar of Defense” was 6 (4 civilian and 2 soldiers).
Pro-Palestinian demonstrator Stephanie Tang of the World Can’t Wait organization displayed a list containing over 108 names of people who had been recently killed in Gaza by the Israeli air raids.

Tang said it is the “responsibility of the people of the United States to speak out against this because it is under this government… that these crimes are made possible.”
DVC student Omer Fazli came out to San Francisco to join the march for the people of Palestine.

Fazli said he wanted to “Show solidarity with what was happening…and was contributing to the, “spreading of awareness in our society.”

A cease-fire was announced on Nov. 21 and has held since its inception. Though the cease-fire is in place, both sides are ready to reengage if provoked.

A Nov. 29 United Nation decision to grant Palestine a non-member observer status was a cause for Gazans to celebrate among the destroyed building and suffering people.
Fazli referred to the U.N. decision as, “a small step towards liberation in the future.”