i understand what the palestine supporters protest, but what the israeli solidarity about? is it people who protest against palestinian terrorism? was there a recent big attack?

good to know the conflict continues! can’t we all just get along? could we just have one huge protest against the conflict?

I saw the sidewalk chalk stuff they put down today – probably the same guys.

The problem is that this sort of A or B position (you either want Israel out of Palestine now or you want Palestine to sit down and shut up) really obscures the issues at hand and encourages neither side to make concessions to the other.

Neither Israel nor the PLO/Hamas/others are without guilt, and pointing fingers just encourages the stalemate.

You’ve got the sides of the street mixed up

@joe

Both sides of Washington Place are in front of Silver. But thanks for checking up on me.

Today is Yom Ha’atzmaut – Israeli Independence Day.

an anti-Israel rally ( http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=70828938278&ref=nf ) was organized and a pro Israel rally ( http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/event.php?sid=ef65d853a765e9dd83a8c56dfa8e640a&eid=96428181124&ref=search ) was organized in response to show support for Israel on campus.

One student from NYU went to the Durban “Racism” conference and kept this blog: http://cgis.jpost.com/Blogs/durbanII/ for anyone interested in reading about Durban II.

It’s Israel Independence Day-that’s why the pro-Israelis were there.

I think the main obstacle to both a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to a more reasonable debate about it is that extremists have pulled the discussion into a “with us or against us” argument. On the Israeli side, it seems like too often anything short of a pro-Likud, anti-Palestinian position that endorses any action the Israeli government sees fit to to take and either denies or puts off a two-state solution is seen as somehow anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, or pro-Hamas. On the Palestinian side, at times it seems difficult to support a two-state solution and condemn Israel’s excessive use of force and routine violation of international law without also being drawn into an apologist position that condones terrorism or suicide bombing. Neither of these two extremes is healthy or productive. One might condemn Israel’s recent actions in the Gaza Strip without condoning or excusing Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, while one might also recognize Israel’s right to exist and condemn positions that deny the Holocaust or are clearly anti-Semitic without claiming that Israel may respond to terrorism with whatever force it deems necessary.

Having been in France for the semester, it’s weird to remember American solidarity with Israel. The press here uses strong language to address the “massacres” against Palestine, and there is anti-Israeli graffiti everywhere, plus stickers like this.

It’s also weird to have heard about so many protests… Also in comparison with France, LEARN TO PROTEST, AMERICA. First you need a LOT of people (approx. 350,000), and corporate sponsors. Then you get the city to close down a street, and then you hold demonstrations in one public square and march down a major avenue to a second major square all while chanting slogans for your cause to the tune of “We Will Rock You.” Seriously.

OR you occupy Kimmel

yup, that’s definitely the right way to protest. echoes of the great kimmel-occupiers’ chants still ring proudly in the ears of nyu students everywhere. what a difference those kids made. ‘MERICUH!

[...] the NYU student body’s recent debates around the issue and other related Middle East issues, expect a pretty lively crowd. The event is [...]