A number of former radical leftists in Germany have, in the last few years, transformed themselves into defenders of the Zionist state. Their political arithmetic is essentially: "we are against Nazis, and some German Nazis say they support Palestine, therefore we must ... support the state of Israel!" There is of course a more complicated theoretical background to this tendency ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Germans_%28communist_current%29), but their absurdity is best summed up in their famous slogan: "For communism! Long live Israel!"

These so-called "Anti-Germans" terrorize youth centers and other left-wing projects (like Indymedia) with accusations of anti-semitism, as soon as any criticism of Israel is expressed. They have even gone so far as to attack Israeli Jews at antifascist demonstrations in Berlin!

For this reason, the Indymedia Germany collective has a (semi-official) policy of not publishing any articles about Israel or Palestine. We have a certain sympathy for the moderators of Indymedia Germany, who don't want to spend their time editing flame wars on their site (they could also get in trouble for insults and threats). However, we can't agree with a policy of caving in to Zionist attacks and slanders.

At the moment, there is not one article about the massacre in Gaza on the Indymedia Germany web site! Not one!

We don't think this is acceptable. For this reason, we publish the censored article here, in English and in German. We are confident that no Indymedia site anywhere outside Germany will be afraid to publish reports about the Israeli massacre in Gaza and the international protests against it.

by Wladek Flakin, Berlin, from the international youth organization REVOLUTION ( http://www.onesolutionrevolution.org)



Protests for Gaza in Berlin and Tel Aviv

On Sunday, March 2, about 100 people gathered at the Hermannplatz in Berlin to protest against the ongoing Israeli offensive in the Gaza strip. Since last Wednesday, more than 100 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army, including several children. We are dealing with the biggest Israeli operation in Gaza since the year 2000.

The participants in the rally stood in a circle with Palestine flags. They listed to several speeches, some of which were completely spontaneous, and chanted "Hoch die internationale Solidarität!" There were speeches in German and Arabic, including a speech by an Israeli activist.

An activist from Jerusalem said in the name of the Israelis present: "We don't want this massacre. We want something different: a country in which we can all live together in peace". Referring to the upcoming 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israeli he said: "We want a different kind of independence, independence from militarism and imperialism!"

During the rally, participants laid down flowers in remembrance of the dead in Gaza. A young Palestinian was briefly detained by the police because he supposedly had a knife with him.

On the same day, 300 people took part in a rally in front of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv. With posters and red flags they demanded an end to the offensive in the Gaza Strip. The demonstrators were attacked by police, and at least three of them were arrested.

Here's the original in German...



Kundgebungen für Gaza in Berlin und Tel Aviv

Am Sonntag, den 2. März, versammelten sich rund 100 Menschen am Hermannplatz in Berlin, um gegen die laufende israelische Offensive im Gazastreifen zu protestieren. Allein seit Mittwoch sind rund 100 PalästinenserInnen von der israelischen Armee getötet worden, darunter mehrere Kinder (1). Damit haben wir es mit dem größten israelischen Angriff seit dem Jahr 2000 zu tun.

Mit Palästina-Fahnen standen die KundgebungsteilnehmerInnen im Kreis auf dem Platz. Sie hörten sich mehrere, teils spontane Redebeiträge an und riefen "Hoch die internationale Solidarität!" Es gab Redebeiträge auf Deutsch und Arabisch, auch eine Rede von einem israelischen Aktivisten.

Der Aktivist aus Jerusalem sagte im Namen der anwesenden Israelis: "Wir wollen dieses Massaker nicht. Wir wollen etwas anderes: ein Land, wo alle in Frieden miteinander leben können". In Bezug auf den bevorstehenden 60. Jahrestag der Unabhängigkeit des Staates Israel meinte er weiter: "Wir wollen eine andere Unabhängigkeit, Unabhängigkeit vom Militarismus und Imperialismus."

Während der Kundgebung legten die TeilnehmerInnen Blumen im Gedenken an die Toten von Gaza nieder. Ein junger Palästinenser wurde vorübergehende festgenommen, weil er angeblich ein Messer bei sich hatte.

Am gleichen Tag nahmen rund 300 Menschen an einer Kundgebung vor dem Verteidigungsministerium in Tel Aviv teil. Mit Plakaten und roten Fahnen forderten sie ein Ende der Offensive im Gazastreifen. Während der Kundgebung wurden DemonstrantInnen von der Polizei angegriffen, mindestens drei von ihnen wurden verhaftet.