Silent protest held in Tokyo against Gaza bloodshed

@umbrella

Where are the protests against Hamas?? They are a terrorist organisation who don't give a toss about the people of Gaza.

Hating Jews is as politically correct today as it has been for several thousand years. The professional protestors on the political Left agree with the goals of Hamas although they cannot bring themselves to support their means for achieving them. So instead they ignore the atrocities and attack Israel's efforts to defend themselves.

I read a quote recently that succinctly states the moral situation. "Israel uses missiles to protect their civilians, Hamas and the Palestinians use civilians to protect their missiles."

Why are so many people here outraged about the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza but are silent when it comes to the thousands of Palestinians killed in Syria?

I think marching and protesting against Israel is thought to be the politically correct thing to do and the unthinking masses generally do what everybody else is doing but people just don't care about the thousands of children and adults slaughtered in Syria.

. Where are the protests against Hamas?? They are a terrorist organisation who don't give a toss about the people of Gaza.

Japonaise

Its a thorny problem you raise. "Never let the perfect be the enemy of the good," on the one hand.

Cynical manipulation on the other.

@japanoise:

Why are so many people here outraged about the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza but are silent when it comes to the thousands of Palestinians killed in Syria?

Because they can't blame the killing on those horrible Jewish people that the Palestinians call 'pigs' (and Bush has been out of office for nearly six years).

I would refer everyone who says "If Hamas did not fire rockets at Israel then there wouldn't be a problem" to my earlier comment. The Palestinians are defending, and have been defending for over 50 years, themselves from a foreign invasion.

As I said before, read something that isn't mainstream media, a real history book perhaps. Then read a few more so you can get a balanced perspective.

The people of Palestine didn't just decide one day to start lobbing rockets at Israel for fun and giggles. It is their only way to defend themselves. Perhaps many poster on here would just roll over and let Israel have their way with their motherland and rape and pillage to their hearts content, but the Palestinian people are too proud for that. Until you've been under the iron fist of occupation, you will never know. This is why a lot of Irish and Catholic N.Irish people support Palestine, they know how it feels and would do the same.

Masterblaster said, (I wonder how many protesters understand the nature of this conflict, it's source and it's implications). Lol, DO YOU CLAIM TO KNOW ALL THAT?? I have stayed a month in Israel, twice and Palestine once and I still can't understand why both sides teach hatred, intolerance, violent response and racism. Because someone protest against violence does NOT mean they have to understand every core issue between the two fighting parties.

@Elbudo Mexicano calm down we here you. This is a fight where Israel is going all out! The Hamas are throwing stones and Israel is dropping bombs its like a little boy going to war with against a man knowing he can't win! Right now the score is Israel 435 and counting the Hamas 12 this war won't be over until Israel is satisfied they intend to wipe out the Hamas!

I wonder how many of the protesters really understand the nature of this conflict, its source and its implications. Very few I suspect.

A rerecently released report fron the U.N. states that Hamas is hiding rockets in schools and playgrounds.

Call the protest what it is: Support for Hamas and not support for peace.

Equality: As I stated in an earlier comment, the HAS been MANY protest against ALL violence and not limited to just one country or state. Because you are unaware of those peaceful gatherings does not mean they are not happening. Sorry if I missed judged you! I'm only judging you by your comments, you said why are Palestinian lives more sacred than others? No one has said this but you and though ALL news media is bias, they have covered the atrocities in those countries you mentioned.

Is this a good cycle or a bad cycle?

A fires thousands of rockets into B, B retaliated by firing rockets back into A’s rocket sites, usually placed in populated areas, killing civilians. Protesters C all over the world shed tears for civilian victims, calling cease-fire. A refuses, as protests by C is not strong enough. B crosses border to do mop-up operation, more civilian victims, stronger C protests, A holds on, more B operation, more civilian- - -much, much stronger C protests. International community D intervened. Cease-fire. - - - Cease-fire- - -. Cease-fire. A fires thousands of rockets into B, B retaliated by firing rockets back into A’s rocket sites, usually- - - . Cease-fire- - -. A fires thousands - - -

The crux of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is rooted in the Palestinian “Right of Return,” the collective belief in a legal and moral right for Palestinian refugees, and more importantly their descendents from around the world, to return to ancestral homes in Israel that were once part of Mandatory Palestine.

Of course, simple logic dictates that this is not where the crux of the problem is rooted. How did this need for a Palestinian "right of return" come about? They had been living there pretty much minding their own business for centuries. They constituted 90% of the population of Palestine. There was no insistence on a "right to return." They were there!

Who were the first ones to insist on a right to return? It wasn't the Palestinian Arabs. The others who were demanding a right to return never lived in Palestine in the first place! How can you "return" to a place you, nor anyone in your family's recorded history, has ever been?

Also, keep in mind that these people were demanding a right to return around WWI, long before the Holocaust. Their basic beliefs and charter emphasized the obligation of every Jew to immigrate to Palestine. Using pre-Holocaust numbers, the Zionists figured that they would need all of Palestine to accommodate millions of Jews, not just a part of it.

The real crux of the problem is what they discussed regarding what to do with the Arabs who were the majority. From that source eventually came the Arab demand for a right to return.

yabits Jul. 23, 2014 - 04:44AM JST The Arabs were told (via the UN and the world) that the lands north of Gaza -- where they had lived for centuries -- was theirs. Israeli aggression and terrorism stole it from them. Why should they accept that? Gazans will never have real peace or sovereignty; Israel will always control and dominate them -- just as they always have from the beginning.

If you look at the relationship between Israelis and Palestinians, the two state model today is only applicable to Israel and the West Bank and there can be no contiguous Palestine state between the West Bank and Gaza with Hamas in power. This would represent a threat to both Israel and to Palestine. The crux of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is rooted in the Palestinian “Right of Return,” the collective belief in a legal and moral right for Palestinian refugees, and more importantly their descendents from around the world, to return to ancestral homes in Israel that were once part of Mandatory Palestine. The “right of return” is central to Palestinian national identity and is a high barrier to any peace agreement.

The Palestinian refugees is doomed to fail because of how Palestinian identity is linked to the Right of Return for eternity. The Palestinian refugee is a citizen forcibly displaced from his land and his return is one of the constants that cannot be controlled by the occupation. But Hamas is misinformed regarding the Israeli position. Israeli governments have been forthright in stating that there is no “right of return” and they point to it as one of the most formidable obstacles to making peace between the Israeli and Palestinian states, as well as peoples. If this is the core of Palestinian identity, that can be satisfied only by exercising the Palestinian “right of return” and the destruction of Israel, then there is no room for compromise.

This comment is about palestinian rockets. Its a desperate attack by desperate people. They are cheap homemade rockets. And. NO. Iron dome isnr saving people lives. Those rocket have always failed 99.9%

It does.

It most certainly doesn't, and that's a major problem of comprehension. First, to the historical fallacies:

When Israel withdrew from Gaza, removing every single Jew from Gaza (including villages that had actually been there long before there was any Gaza strip or Israel)

Gaza itself has been there since biblical times, always predominantly Arab. Jews also lived there for centuries as a minority. When the Arabs started to become aware of Zionism and its aims, the British forced all Jews to leave as they were no longer safe. (Many were killed in Arab rioting.) That was around 1929. No Jews lived there until 1946, when one kibbutz was built. The settlements came after the six-day war, in the early 1970s.

they really hoped they would get peace

LOL. How did most Arabs who are living there today come to live an Gaza? Under the UN parition plan, the lands north of Gaza along the coast up to around Yavneh, including the cities of Ashdod and Ashkelon belonged to the Arabs. Israel took those lands in 1948 and forced the vast majority of Arabs -- ethnically cleansing the area -- into the Gaza Strip. (It is only your hatred for Arabs that would allow you to justify or rationalize that crime.)

Israel's example told the Arabs that if you use violence and threats of violence, you can have land. The Arabs were told (via the UN and the world) that the lands north of Gaza -- where they had lived for centuries -- was theirs. Israeli aggression and terrorism stole it from them. Why should they accept that? Gazans will never have real peace or sovereignty; Israel will always control and dominate them -- just as they always have from the beginning.

Why would anyone acknowledge Israel's right to exist on lands that they stole?

yabits:

" You think history starts with Hamas rockets. "

It does. That is what the Hamas defenders refuse to acknowledge. When Israel withdrew from Gaza, removing every single Jew from Gaza (including villages that had actually been there long before there was any Gaza strip or Israel), they really hoped they would get peace. Instead, they got Hamas, its declaration of war on Israel (read the Hamas constitution), and immediate attacks. Ever since then, Israel has been RESPONDING to Hamas attacks. It is only because the media tend to ignore Hamas aggression and only start reporting once Israel respond that this weird picture of two sides attacking each other was created. But that is simply propaganda. If Hamas wants peace, they can have it any time. Acknowledge Israels right to exist and stop terrorism. But that is too much to ask, apparently.

it has nothing to do with my comment so why you quoted me is strange.

It does, but many are too blind or dense to comprehend. You actually don't want to comprehend.

You think history starts with Hamas rockets.

The argument you are making seems to be Just imagine how much more they could have killed

And your argument seems to be If more Israelis were dying it would be fairer

@yabits, interesting screed, it has nothing to do with my comment so why you quoted me is strange.

@Stuart - You are incorrect. I do care for the lives of all innocent victims of violence; equally in fact, and thus my moniker. For you to assume otherwise is just that, an assumption. I simply find it curious, and honestly a bit dubious, that hundreds of Japanese would have a silent protest to observe the deaths of Palestinians while I have never heard nor read of them protesting - silent or otherwise - against the deaths of more than one hundred thousand innocent Syrians, countless Sudanese in Darfur, hundreds of thousands of innocent Tutsi's and moderate Hutus massacred in Rawanda (yes, I have been in Japan for a long time), or countless other peoples massacred by governments and militias around the world.

Your post actually says more about you than it does about me, which is interesting as well.

So if I shoot at you but miss because you have spent time and money building defenses, then you would just ignore me and let me keep shooting until I get a luck hit?

If two people living in two different houses in a neighborhood start shooting at each other, the work of the other neighbors is not to immediately take sides but to try to figure out why the shooting is going on and to stop it. The key question is: "What started all of this?"

The real wrongful party in this matter doesn't want people to see all of the evidence, but it's obvious: A group of Europeans wanted to steal land in Palestine that belonged to other people -- but they were under the illusion that it somehow belonged to them. The people having their land stolen just have not wanted to capitulate to the theft. And so they fight back.

They hVe long blocDed Gaza and made it impossible to obtain food and medicine,.

That is simply untrue.

What is clear is that Hamas is trying to get Israel to kill as many Palestinians as possible. Dead Palestinians are a great propaganda victory for an inhumane regime that has failed miserably to provide its own people with even the most basics of civilised life: safety, food, employment, education, medical care.(Ismail Haniyeh sent his own granddaughter to Israel for treatment - and she was accepted). But Hamas leaders don't hesitate to protect themselves. They hide in a vast web of underground tunnels and shelters built just for them. Gazan civilians are expendable. Urged to become targets and their dead bodies are paraded in public to further the Hamas cause.

It is Hamas that is the problem. Get rid of Hamas and give the Palestinians a chance of a decent life.

Israel HAS shown restraint.

The argument you are making seems to be Just imagine how much more they could have killed - an argument you could use for anything Israel does short of nuking the entire Middle East.

It is a psycopathic way of phrasing a justification for these actions that would in no way be acceptable in any other situation.

The volleys of rocketfire from Gaza that instigated this invasion, while definitely an outrage, did not actually kill anyone.

So if I shoot at you but miss because you have spent time and money building defenses, then you would just ignore me and let me keep shooting until I get a luck hit?

That's precisely what's at the crux of the criticism being leveled at Israel for the restraint it has shown, yes restraint, against Hamas and it's absurd.

So, if mass murder is what is needed to bring a population into line, it sounds like you'd be all for it.

And what did this population do that would be deserving of mass murder? They have tried to fight an alien invader who had driven them off lands they had lived on for centuries. That's a pretty obvious fact. Those Arab Palestinians trace their roots in Palestine back many, many centuries. The people being encouraged to commit mass murder are recent arrivals from Europe.

Equality: Who said that Palistainains lives are more sacred than others? Oh, only you did. ALL LIFE IS SACRED! The sad part is, I'm sure YOU don't really care about the innocent victims, in those countries you mentioned!

NBC reporter was witness to the deaths of kids at the beach behind a hotel. What did NBC do? They recalled him. I order to keep the images of the waton disregard for life by Israel off the airwaves. 77 percent is the officla UN figure I beleive for casualties by civilians. Read A Jewish Voice for Peace. Israel is now seeing unprecented protests by Isralies against their own government. The foreign minister has practically called cor teh expulsion of all Arabs. They hVe long blocDed Gaza and made it impossible to obtain food and medicine,. There is no way that civilians could jnkt be maimed and killed. It is a lie that Israel has been sparing of civillians. This is Israeli gov. propaganda. Hamaqs has been irresponsible, but Israel has been more so, with so alled precison strikes that hit hospitals for teh disabled. Read a bit more widely before you make claims that Israel has shown restraint. 500 Plus people MOST of them civilians, and no end in sight. s a Jew I am ashamed of both Israel, and my nation, the US, which has pumped money into the Israeli money and has voted 100 to 0 in the senate to support the state.This is aa muxh about IsrEli apartheid as it is about US permanent war.

This tit-for-tat violence has no innocent parties. Israel went way overboard in unilaterally annexing territory under Sharon and others. The Palestinian people are shoveled into a cesspool city and told to take their medicine. The Israelis have faced countless suicide bombers, randomly-fired rockets and even the senseless loss of an entire Olympic team because of their determination to isolate a humankind virus. But the true villain in this most recent event is the verminous Hamas who use women-and-children human shields and fire rockets into Israel, build tunnels to do the same, and even set up artillery depots in hospitals and other areas frequented by mostly innocent people. Though I can only surmise, the Hamas tell those innocents not to run from the Israeli roof knockings and phone calls, but to martyr themselves (at gunpoint) to further the Hamas objectives. It is naive to think of Israelis as genocidal murderers; it is the evil forces within Palestine that are clearly that way.

That is a good lesson. If you kill one you just create enemies but if you don't kill and help them you have allies!

any mentality that suggests that Israel has shown restrain in killing hundreds of women and children is, frankly, sick.

Israel HAS shown restraint. It could have done what Hamas does, and fire indiscriminately into civilian areas with the sole purpose of killing as many people as possible. Al Jazeera (owned by Qatar, a friend of Hamas) published data showing that so far during the operation in Gaza Israel has killed mainly combatant-age males, not women or children. Deaths are shown to be disproportionately (compared to the overall population) among young males. Men over 40 are also disproportionately represented. Some of those are probably senior members of Hamas.

How many of the deaths of "civilians" are really civilians? They don't wear uniforms. How many deaths were caused by Hamas' own rockets falling short? How many were caused by Hamas not allowing people to evacuate when told of imminent attacks by Israel? How many were caused by Hamas using people's homes to fire rockets from? Ditto schools, mosques and hospitals? All innocent deaths are a tragedy but to say that all these people died because of Israel is, frankly, sick.

I wonder what makes the lives of Palestinians so much more sacred than those of others, such as the Syrians (over 28,000 dead in 2014), Nigerians (over 5,000 dead in 2014), Pakistanis (2,300), etc., etc. Interesting ...

So you have different expectations of international conduct for countries of different political systems and levels of economic development. Ridiculous. That's precisely what's at the crux of the criticism being leveled at Israel for the restraint it has shown, yes restraint, against Hamas and it's absurd.

In practice, when a democracy kills innocent civilians it comes as more of a shock since you dont expect them to behave that way, whereas when a brutal regime like Syrias does it it is more or less just confirms what we thought of them in the first place (otherwise we wouldn`t call them brutal regimes). This in no way should be taken as me saying that I think they should be held to different standards of conduct - crimes are crimes regardless of who commits them. The question I was addressing was why people pay more attention to victims of the Israeli military than they do to victims of the Syrian military, which is simply a question of perception. I was not suggesting that one was justified simply because it was perpetrated by a poor country while the other was not.

And any mentality that suggests that Israel has shown restrain in killing hundreds of women and children is, frankly, sick.

senseiman

c) Israel is a European-style democratic state while Syria is a murderous third world dictatorship. We expect better from countries falling into the former category. If Belgium or Denmark killed hundreds of civilians in a military operation against one of their neighbors I'm sure we'd be just as mad.

So you have different expectations of international conduct for countries of different political systems and levels of economic development. Ridiculous. That's precisely what's at the crux of the criticism being leveled at Israel for the restraint it has shown, yes restraint, against Hamas and it's absurd.

Probably because: a) the article is about the Gaza conflict, not Syria.

Agreed. Plenty of posters have commented about Palestinians in general though, not just those who live in Gaza. I tried to find similar comments following the murder of Palestinians in Yarmouk a couple of months ago, but couldn't. I was just wondering why people seem to care more about Palestinians when they die at the hands of Israelis than when they die at the hands of Arabs.

if HAMAS didn't fire the rockets from GAZA in the first place, israel would have no reason to fire into GAZA to destroy rocket emplacements. if they stopped firing a couple days ago when israel stopped, several hundred people would still be alive.

the fact is the people of GAZA picked HAMAS as their leaders, they hide HAMAS and their weapons in and around their homes knowing israel will fire back if fired upon. while the death of children is tragic, it is HAMAS that is using them as a shield for their attacks so it is HAMAS at whose door their deaths should be laid.

Why are so many people here outraged about the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza but are silent when it comes to the thousands of Palestinians killed in Syria?

Because otherwise we'd be off topic. The thread is about Gaza, and what is happening to the civilian population there, be they kids playing football on the beach, or patients in hospital.

Why are a few here outraged that we have the chutzpah to criticize Israel, a country for whom we would otherwise have a lot of love?

Either you support the Palestinians or you don't.

Including Hamas? Islamic Jihad? I haven't seen any of their supporters posting here either.

Why are so many people here outraged about the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza but are silent when it comes to the thousands of Palestinians killed in Syria? Either you support the Palestinians or you don't.

Probably because: a) the article is about the Gaza conflict, not Syria. b) Nobody is trying to justify Syrian atrocities on here, while numerous posts have attempted to do so with regard to Israel, which is probably rubbing people the wrong way. c) Israel is a European-style democratic state while Syria is a murderous third world dictatorship. We expect better from countries falling into the former category. If Belgium or Denmark killed hundreds of civilians in a military operation against one of their neighbors I'm sure we'd be just as mad.

Why are so many people here outraged about the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza but are silent when it comes to the thousands of Palestinians killed in Syria? Either you support the Palestinians or you don't.

I for one fully support the Palestinian cause.

I think that many people need to take some history lessons or at the very least do some research. Israel are the aggressors and the Palestinians are actually defending their country. Since 1948 Israel has been settling in land that is not theirs, they are occupiers and I'm sure many on here would not accept an occupying force in their homeland, wherever that may be. My family is Irish, we know all about being occupied and subjugated by a foreign force against your will.

If you dig even deeper you see that the divvying up of Palestine was actually the fault of Britain (which had governmental mandate in Palestine since the late 20's) and the UN who basically carved up the Arab land as if it were a birthday cake.

The map below illustrates quite clearly how much land has been illegally taken by Israel since 1947. You can see why the Arab League would not accept the original Partition Plan. How many on here would happily give up huge swathes of their homeland to allow the creation of a new country? Since then Israel has squeezed the last remaining Palestinians and Arabs into modern city-sized ghettos.

<http://www.ifamericansknew.org/images/FourMaps.jpg>

Please check your history/facts before settling on an opinion. Or to quote Richard Roma from Glengarry Glen Ross.

"I'm gonna tell you something you'd know if you'd ever spent a day in your life: You never open your mouth until you know what the shot is."

According to the UN, as of 11 hours ago, 100,000+ evacuees within Gaza are being housed in UN facilities...

kyushubill said: "A Google search plainly shows that Sonoko Kawakami is a professional protester with Amnesty and the CPJ. This simply shows who is behind this protest and yes 70% of the time in Japan the CPJ is behind them."

This logic escapes me. If 1, 2 or more members are from Amnesty or the Japanese Communist Party ( correct English name, not CPJ), does that invalidate their protest? One would expect people involved in anti-war, pro-human rights activities to be in the forefront of those protesting the slaughter of innocents. It would be much more incongruous if a pro militarist group member were to join such a protest.

Or are you suggesting that to associate with either of the groups you mention is an evil thing? zyhis cleRly has nothing to do with the topic, except to apply labels and stigmas to such people.

500 Japanese protesting in a Tokyo park...that and 400 yen will buy you a cup of Starbucks coffee.

Seriously, Japan plays both sides to the hilt. The government here agrees that Hamas is "a terrorist organization," but they then give billions to Arab states which directly support Hamas. Why? Follow the oil...er, I mean, money.

Takeaway fact for today: The US, the UN, the EU, Russia, Canada, Egypt, Turkey, Qatar and Jordan all support an international plan for a cease fire. Israel immediately agreed to implement that cease fire. Hamas, on the other hand, demanded that they receive concessions and refuse any cease fire without getting 100% of what they demand.

Conclusion: Hamas is responsible for continuing this conflict. And the Gazan Arabs who voted Hamas into power are responsible for Hamas.

If they didn't killed those three Israeli teenagers it will not have started, so look at the point you guys

Israel is carrying out a genocide BECAUSE three Israeli teenagers were killed. Can you just read that sentence and ask yourself if that makes ANY sense to you? HOW DOES THIS JUSTIFY WHAT THEY ARE DOING? How disgusting has the world become that a country is using such a stupid excuse to extinguish the people of Gaza. So what Israel is saying is that thee Israeli lives are equivalent to millions of innocent lives in Gaza. Atrocious behavior. Absolutely atrocious.

According to the UN, as of today, 84,000+ evacuees within Gaza are being housed in UN facilities...

Is it cool for Jews to kill Arabs?? NO!! Is it ok for Arabs to kill Jews?? NO!! Both need to GROW UP and cut this crap out!! Why in the hell do we have to give BILLIONS of $$$ to ISRAEL every year!! Do they need it?? HELL NO!!! Why does the US also have to give EGYPT billions of $$$??? Israel and that West Bank, Gaza do not deserve 1 cent!! The RICH ARABS, Saudi Arabia etc...should take these poor Palestinians and let them work in Saudi Arabia, etc..where the rich, lazy upper class Arabs will never do any of the dirty work, so why is the world giving so much $$ to a useless part of the world?? Those lands are called the HOLY LANDS by some of the worlds major religions but??? They can not learn to live in peace and harmony and yesterday ISIS in Mosul has just kicked out all of the Christian Iraquis or if they stay, well they get to have their heads chopped off on YouTube, ala AL QAEDA style and we are supposed to think it is ok to support these crappy countries?? Sorry folks, that part of the world will always be at each others throats!! The rest of the world should just move on and let them abuse each other until they are so sick of the violence that then and only then will Jews and Muslims WAKE UP and say, ENOUGH is ENOUGH but NOW they want BLOOD!! They both want to kill each other off!! It is a horrible situation but the world SHOULD NOT GIVE 1 CENT to Israel, Egypt etc..let the filthy rich Saudis, etc..take care of their own part of the world!

They held a silent protest in a park? They should have held a noisy protest in front of the Palestinian mission in Tokyo, with demands for Hamas to stop launching missiles at Israel and stand down.

therefore they need to be held to a high standard

The problem with this thinking is that it's a disingenuous way of saying that Israel's neighbors need to be held to a lower standard, as though they are incapable of living up to the standards we set for others. It's a subliminal expression of racism, buried in a message of "support."

'As if we need more evidence that ordinary Japanese citizens, contrary to the negative stereotypes about them being blind sheeple afraid to speak out in public against causes, do in fact voice their public opinions on world events.'

You keep posting this. Five hundred people from a population in the Kanto area numbering over 30 million on a public holiday?

As if we need more evidence that ordinary Japanese citizens, contrary to the negative stereotypes about them being blind sheeple afraid to speak out in public against causes, do in fact voice their public opinions on world events.

'A Google search plainly shows that Sonoko Kawakami is a professional protester with Amnesty and the CPJ. This simply shows who is behind this protest and yes 70% of the time in Japan the CPJ is behind them.'

So? The majority of countries on the planet regard Israel's land stealing as illegal and its treatment of Palestinians as immoral. Are they all members of the CPJ? One poster hinted at anti-Semitism as the motivation and now they are relegated to professional protesters with questionable political affiliations. Maybe they just see the soaring death toll including women, children and the disabled as disgraceful. I certainly do.

So where where these protesters when Hamas was shooting rockets at Israeli towns? I did not notice them.

Oh OK, so Israel needs to wait until a rocket kills someone. Gotcha! And what a load of bs. Let any terrorist group try that with any nation and you will see a quick military response. And yes, Hamas is a terrorist front organization and is even so listed by the great bastion of secualrism the UN.

So, by your logic, if North Korea launches 1000 rockets into Japan and they kill nobody then no harm no foul, and Japan and allies cannot retaliate. I think you need to rethink your knee jerk. It seems your knee jerk is that Israel is somehow the villain when in fact Hamas brought this on, and yes, they use human shields.

I never wrote anything that would lead to any of those conclusions. If you want to actually discuss this stuff you would do better to actually observe some decorum when responding to people rather than launching immediately into an angered tirade against some imaginary straw man.

The question I was responding to was why there weren`t any protests against Hamas. Thats it.

But just to set my actual position straight, of course a sovereign state like Israel has the right to retaliate against rocket attacks against it, regardless of whether or not they actually kill anyone. That right, however, does not mean it has cart blanche to do whatever it wants in retaliation without limits. The response so far has, in my opinion, been totally out of proportion to the Hamas attacks and, more seriously, displayed a flagrant disregard for the lives of innocent civilians. The fact that Hamas also displays a flagrant disregard for the lives of innocent civilians is not, in and of itself, a valid excuse for a democratic country like Israel to do the same.

But by all means, if you must then go on insisting that all of this irrefutably means that I believe that Japan should just sit idly by while North Korea rains missiles down on it.

Did you know that Hamas use the civilians as human shields?

Israel does... and still they go bombing and stomping (Storm-trooper style and not the Star Wars version but the real life one).

Hamas are an irregular terrorist organization... Israel is using its full power National Army and weaponry. Hamas tries hard to hurt and destroy the Israelis way of life by bombing and other murderous acts. Israel Army... just go shooting children, unarmed people, elders... to stop Hamas, having all that technology and advance weaponry.

For some reason... the acts (retaliations) of Israel are very hard to defend.. less to understand.

Did they protest against Hamas for not accepting the ceasefire and prolong the conflict?

Its fashionable to blame Israel for everything these days.

A Google search plainly shows that Sonoko Kawakami is a professional protester with Amnesty and the CPJ. This simply shows who is behind this protest and yes 70% of the time in Japan the CPJ is behind them.

So where where these protesters when Hamas was shooting rockets at Israeli towns? Nowhere to be seen. Pure hypocrisy, aided by a biased media corps.

I don't see the point of why that protest happened in Japan but then again many Japanese like to jump on one bandwagon or another without really understanding why, very naive understanding on many things outside of Japan IMO. I don't care about the region of the world since its un-important in the world stage.

Hamas rightly refused the latest offer, which was not even made to them, but only between the US, Tony Blair (the Butcher of Bagdhad) and Israel. It did not even respond to any of Hamas' conditions, so it was a non offer. It was thrown in to make Israel look reasonable.

And as regards Hamas, I do not like them either, but you are inflicting collective punishment on the Palestinians, targeting babies and the handicapped, and generally acting as a Nazi would.

There are millions of Jews around the world who hate what Israel stands for and who also hate that the government is endangering Jewish civilians by targeting Palestinian civilians. Again, take time to read A Jewish Voice for Peace and see that Jewish and Israel are NOT synonymous. earn something from the very detailed summaries there and 977mag.org which giv the lie to the claim that Israel is acting in self defense. Yes, CNN and BBC and the rest of the pro Israeli media are not giving the full story. Read, learn, and maybe you will be a little less willing to bash the peace protestors, whether in Japan or is Israel or around the world. Be thankful too that French protestors have defied bans on protests and propaganda that has been manipulated to make it look like anti war protestors are attacking Jews.

One again, a nominally left-wing government has shown its trues colors, just as they did when they blew up a Greenpeace ship.

Be wary of newspapers that make the fighting look symmetrical, that fail to give the history of the conflict.

Be wary of politicians who turn a blind eye to what Israel does because they think it will buy them votes.

And note that the military industrial complex is making big bucks selling weaponry to Israel. Soon to be joined by Japan's weapons makers no doubt. War and weapons is, as always, good business. And only women and kids do the dying as Dylan once sang.

It is rather interesting that the folks defending the Israeli regime's slaughter of civilians point to the few rockets fired out of Gaza, but can never see the deadly rain of bullets, and bombs into Gaza that has consistently been the hallmark of those periods the Israeli media call 'periods of calm' which is to say, those times when there is no rocket fire back from Gaza. That blind spot (in both the media, and supporters of the Israeli regime) paints a pretty clear picture of the atmosphere around the situation.

So what you're saying is that this protest would be for Israel if the Israelis...

If a powerful military force had hemmed in Jewish men, women and children into a crowded ghetto and attempted to completely block all means of contact, trade and supply, and rockets and tunnels were their only means to fight back, I think many would cheer their support. It's only because the people whose backs are against the wall are Arab Muslims does no sympathy or attempt to understand get extended.

I especially enjoyed seeing the Jewish and Muslim religious representatives talking side by side about peace

I'm sure it was a welcome sight to see. Thanks for the report.

People who say this like "Was there also a protest against the thousands of rockets fired from Gaza at Israeli civilian populations?" do not know the history of the conflict at all.

Thank you for the links and shalom aleichem, Paul Arenson. Yes, the common thread that links those who blindly toe the Israeli line is complete ignorance of the history. Anyone who truly cares about the Jewish people have to be deeply concerned at how the decades-long total domination of the Arabs is affecting so many minds. There is real insanity going on in Israel; thank you for being a voice of sanity.

This was a good demonstration. It was inclusive, peaceful and to he point. What Israel is doing in Gaza is immoral by any standard. Israel has been committing mass murder with impunity as the US and its allies said nothing or next to nothing in protest. Hitler supposedly said, "Who cared about the Armenians?," in reference to the Turkish Armenian genocide that the Turkish government still denies, when he started the Holocaust. Perhaps some future genocidal dictator will say, "Who cared about the Palestinians?"

Demonstrations like this tell the world that there are people who care about the Palestinians, Jews as well as gentiles. In so doing, they are giving the word to all present and future tyrants that there will always be people who care about what they do.

Thank you for your thoughts and info Paul Arenson. Netanyahu and his blood-thisty swinish crew do not in fact work on behalf of the Jews and many Israeli voices are protesting the mass murder in Gaza.

Hamas and other groups fight with hundreds or thousands of 122 mm rockets, heavy explosives, rocket propelled grenades, heavy machine guns, and refuse to stop when Israel offers peace. Israel is fighting for it's very existence. They murder anyone, including babies when they have a chance and raise their children on hate and to attack Jews by any means including suicide bombing of innocent victims. They do not use home made rockets and bombs, they use Iranian supplied full military equipment that is smuggled in. The Gaza tunnels found so far contain thousands of AK automatic rifles, machine guns, tons of explosives, ammunition and rockets. They have Israeli uniforms for infiltration to murder and destroy. They have been offered peace and always refuse it. Their motto is death to all Jews and Christians For rickyvee you have a very lopsided and uneducated few of the weapons used by the Arab murderers.

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"Was there also a protest against the thousands of rockets fired from Gaza at Israeli civilian populations?"

Of course not. It does not play into the progressive secular humanist playbook. They are too convinced that Hamas are the victims because they let secular humanists at the UN do their thinking for them. Also the fact these people are usually very anti-Jewish and antisemitic.

"The volleys of rocketfire from Gaza that instigated this invasion, while definitely an outrage, did not actually kill anyone."

Oh OK, so Israel needs to wait until a rocket kills someone. Gotcha! And what a load of bs. Let any terrorist group try that with any nation and you will see a quick military response. And yes, Hamas is a terrorist front organization and is even so listed by the great bastion of secualrism the UN.

So, by your logic, if North Korea launches 1000 rockets into Japan and they kill nobody then no harm no foul, and Japan and allies cannot retaliate. I think you need to rethink your knee jerk. It seems your knee jerk is that Israel is somehow the villain when in fact Hamas brought this on, and yes, they use human shields.

I wish these articles were not written in past tense but instead in future tense so that those of us "out of the loop" could decide whether or not we could attend. I am sure many of us would like to attend events that bring people of like minds together. If JT finds out that an event happened, perhaps it can also find out what will happen and announce it? Thanks to the readers who post articles where we can read more. Bless all the children and people born wherever they happen to be born and under whatever label they/we are born to carry.

Why are Hamas, brutal and corrupt as they are, getting so much love?

They aren't. The people of Gaza, the West Bank and Israel are.

While Israel, which has done so much for the world in creativity and advancements, is treated as the source of evil?

For the wholesale and continued failure to value the lives and livelihoods of Palestinians?

Little if any action is taken by the Israeli authorities to investigate, prosecute and punish violence against Palestinians, including killings, by settlers and members of the security forces, resulting in a situation of impunity

...United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, 2009

Not that they are blameless, but they are leagues ahead of their neighbours and enemies in the region.

Two wrongs don't make a right. Israel/Palestine can, and will be, THE conflict resolution model for our planet. The Israeli and Palestinian people deserve no less.

So what you're saying is that this protest would be for Israel if the Israelis didn't establish the Iron Dome and instead intentionally allowed, nay, engineered their civilian population to be killed by the 1000+ rockets fired by Hamas. Really? That's all it takes to be worthy of your sympathy and support?

I have no idea what you are talking about.

My sympathy goes to the innocent victims of the conflict. I don`t support either side, I think Hamas is a terrorist organization that should be condemned as well. I also think that Israel, as a soveriegn state, should be open to criticism for its own actions, which in this case has led to horrendous tragedy for hundreds of people and their families. Why that would be hard to comprehend, or why my view should be considered in any way objectionable, is beyond me.

hamas fights with a few guns, some home-made rockets and bombs, whereas israel fights with US supplied tanks, laser-guided missiles, fighter jets and the latest in US supplied guns and combat gear. and all the talk about hamas using "human shileds" is AIPAC talking. independent observers have verified very few instances of this happening. and israel wonders why the international community is against it? puh-lease. i could list a hundred more reasons.

It's funny watching all the comments trying to deflect away from Israel's actions, Why are they not protesting against murdered civilians in Syria? There has been MANY protest against all violence, wether in Syria or elsewhere. While I don't support Palestine's actions either, Israel receives more free military aid, at the highest financial value, than any country or state in the world. Yet, they have broken more UN resolutions than ANYONE! They continue to build, Internationally recognized as ILLEGAL settlements, that they know only inflame the region. Last year Israel destroyed more than 7500 Palestinian olive trees and most of their water aquifers. Is that how Israel extends the olive branch of peace a love? Though there are no easy answers to the many challenges of the M.E., no one receives more support than Israel, therefore they need to be held to a high standard

If they didn't killed those three Israeli teenagers it will not have started, so look at the point you guys

Good on them. Won't change things in the ME, but at least it shows these people know, and care, and hopefully brings about more awareness.

" GO Israel kill them all....."

Read "A Jewish Voice for Peace" and other informed sites. Israel enabled Hamas in order to divide the Palestinians. You do not have to love Hamas in order to understand that Israel has become an Apartheid state. Its deadly, brutal occupation has destroyed thousands of lives over the years. It claims to be the Middle East's only democracy, but that democracy is reserved for a certain group of people. Just the other day in the Knesset, the speaker ordered the ejection of 3 Palestinian lawmakers (yes, there are some Arabs who are citizens, though racists like the current Israeli foreign Minister has advocated against even this). And in the streets of Tel Aviv, there are progressive Jews calling for an end to the occupation (and being attacked by rabidly right Jewish Defense League counter protestors, not very different from the gangs who attacked Jews in central Europe under Hitler, but you don't see that coverage on the mainstream media, particularly if you live in the US or the UK. So here is a link...maybe two, if these don't get edited out:

http://countercurrentnews.com/2014/07/pro-peace-protests-are-sweeping-israel-right-now-and-israeli-jdl-fascists-are-freaking-out/

and

http://972mag.com/the-terror-tunnels-another-israeli-self-fulfilling-prophecy/94053/

I want to emphasize that these are Israeli sites that are critical of Israel' policies.

Note editor, before you delete this as being off topic, consider how many comments similar to the above "GO Israel kill them all" you leave alone while those of us who try to put a story in perspective get told we are off topic.

People who say this like "Was there also a protest against the thousands of rockets fired from Gaza at Israeli civilian populations?" do not know the history of the conflict at all. Thus my links above to two Israeli publications that offer that perspective.

People who imply we should not be protesting should understand how ludicrous this sounds when you consider how even in the US dissent was met with hostility, implying we had not right to do so, being in a "democratic" country.

When we anti Vietnam war protestors were told we had no right to criticize a supposedly democratic country like the US because we "we wouldn't be allowed to do it in Russia," the only thing I hear defenders of Israel say is that we should not be allowed to criticize this apartheid regime because we wouldn't be allowed to do so in Egypt.

Who are the victims. Until now, primarily Palestinian civilians, some 77 percent of the casualties. But one heart rending thing is the fact that when 3 Israeli kids were kidnapped 2 weeks ago, their fate not revealed by the Israeli govt even though they reportedly knew it long before they released it, and when this provoked Israeli extremists to murder a Palestinian kid in retaliation, a member of the Palestinian family went to a memorial for one of the dead israeli kids. Therein lies our hope. Not in murder. Which is what I hear advocated by so many Americans. Brits and Israelis. And 100 percent of the US Congress. For shame.

And yes, I am a Jew.

senseiman

The volleys of rocketfire from Gaza that instigated this invasion, while definitely an outrage, did not actually kill anyone. The Israeli invasion, on the other hand, has killed over 500, including large numbers of innocent civilians...You can`t seriously make the charge that there is a double standard (at least not based on that comparison) - the two are orders of magnitude apart.

So what you're saying is that this protest would be for Israel if the Israelis didn't establish the Iron Dome and instead intentionally allowed, nay, engineered their civilian population to be killed by the 1000+ rockets fired by Hamas. Really? That's all it takes to be worthy of your sympathy and support?

What would be the appropriate response to the launching of 1,000+ rockets into your country?

Good question. Admittedly I don`t have a specific answer, but I can say without hesitation that I would definitely not choose a response that killed more than 500 people - the majority of them innocent civilians, many of them children.

I was there and it was a nice gathering, I especially enjoyed seeing the Jewish and Muslim religious representatives talking side by side about peace. Wish the world was a simpler place, this problem in the Middle East is so deep rooted it looks almost impossible to solve. I lived in Dubai for 3 years and heard a lot about this whole Arab-Israel issue, obviously only heard the Arab side of things but am trying to understand them both. If you put yourself in their shoes, either side can be understood.

Good on these people for showing they care. Rest in Peace to the hundreds of innocent Palestinian children, women and men - and the two Israeli civilians. May the bloodshed stop.

Funny, I never heard these people protesting the brutality of Hamas and how Hamas uses their own people has human shields. Boy, you gotta love the one-sided liberal media, never fails to amaze me.

The volleys of rocketfire from Gaza that instigated this invasion, while definitely an outrage, did not actually kill anyone. The Israeli invasion, on the other hand, has killed over 500, including large numbers of innocent civilians.

What would be the appropriate response to the launching of 1,000+ rockets into your country?

One has to wonder, with all the terror and bloodshed in that region, that people get most upset about Israel. Palestinians and children are being slaughtered by the 1000s next door in Syria, and I don't see any support for them.

What is it that makes Israel special? Why are Hamas, brutal and corrupt as they are, getting so much love? While Israel, which has done so much for the world in creativity and advancements, is treated as the source of evil? Not that they are blameless, but they are leagues ahead of their neighbours and enemies in the region.

There is clearly something else going on in the minds of many protestors, and it isn't pretty.

Was there also a protest against the thousands of rockets fired from Gaza at Israeli civilian populations?

The volleys of rocketfire from Gaza that instigated this invasion, while definitely an outrage, did not actually kill anyone. The Israeli invasion, on the other hand, has killed over 500, including large numbers of innocent civilians.

You can`t seriously make the charge that there is a double standard (at least not based on that comparison) - the two are orders of magnitude apart.

Leading members of the Muslim, Christian, Buddhist and Jewish faiths delivered brief messages calling for an end to the violence.

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Demo people are calling for an end to the violence. Very peaceful protests against violence.

Was there a similar protest earlier this year when Syrian forces murdered and tortured Palestinians in Yarmouk? About 2000 Palestinians have been killed in Syria. Are they not important enough for a silent street protest?

Why can't these protestors just blame Japan by remotely linking its role in WWII with this latest escalation? like for example, the State of Israel exists thanks to Japan's alliance with the Nazis AND Japan's current cordial relations with both Israel and Palestine is inconsistent with any form of past apologies (if any exists) for its alliance with the Nazis.

Does that sound far fetched? perhaps its better understood by Japan's neighbors.

Was there also a protest against the thousands of rockets fired from Gaza at Israeli civilian populations?

Exactly. Protest are always so one sided. I would like to see the rent-a mob protesting against Hamas.

Was there also a protest against the thousands of rockets fired from Gaza at Israeli civilian populations?

Was there also a protest for Syria? People died unfairly there too (160,000 so far)

Bravo!

Silent protest held in Tokyo against Gaza bloodshed

silent protest? yeah, world is silent, let's observe silent mourning.

Good on them, it's nice to see.

Israel have just hit a hospital in Gaza and killed people in their beds. Class act.