jacobito (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} jacobito) wrote,@ 2006-09-11 13:59:00 |
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Creative protesters chalked the sidewalks leading up to Netanyahu's talk on "Democracy"
NYC Indymedia
9/08 | What do you do when an ex-PM of Israel comes to town to talk about democracy? Chalk the Sidewalks!
When we heard that ex-Prime Minister Benyamin "Bibi" Netanyahu was coming to NYU at Astor place to speak for the annual "Caravan for Democracy" tour, we knew we had to do something.
With little time to prepare, we came with some chalk and covered the sidewalks to the brim. There were arrows pointing to the room where "War criminal is speaking now" to quotes form Bibi himself about settlements and expulsions, with statistics about him and israel, and words from all different kinds of groups there, including the Ad-Hoc Coalition for Justice in the Middle East, Jews Against the Occupation, The Divestment campaign, NYU groups, and more. The people who waited in line to see him speak had to walk by the chalk, sometimes directly over it. Waiting in line through the windows, they could see the chalks on the ground. "Lies: This way." "A Ghetto is a Ghetto". "Tear Down this Wall". "American Jews Say Enough!" and more. As it got closer to the time, more groups showed up with signs, chants started, flyers were dispersed, and miraculously, the cops (mostly NYU ones) didn't touch us. That was until the real pigs showed up and tried to put us all in a pen. Some went in, others stayed out. Lots of friendly discussions happened, and lots of people yelled dirty words at us. I remember one Jewish guy said to me, after i tried to give him a flyer, "Go to Hell!" I wanted to say, "But we Jews don't believe in hell!", but alas, my wit is not that fast. High school groups showed up to the event, and were stunned at our presence. Not sure if the political message got through (or even the radical message that you can BE jewish and BE against the occupation of Palestine by Israel), but we couldn't be ignored.
I remember seeing Bibi arrive. I knew what gate he was going through (its always the 3rd middle gate on astor, not the corner ones), but the protestors stayed on their corner. I saw the secret service everywhere surround him, the black car stopped, he had to walk a few feet to the gate (which happened to be the sidewalk area that we didn't chalk!!), so we yelled "WAR CRIMINAL! ARREST HIM!" He looked right at us, we looked at him, and he went on. Then the cop threatened to arrest us. So we left. Later, during his speech, we went back to that area where we knew he had to walk and did chalk outlines of bodies on the ground, so that he had to walk over them on the way to his car. After the cop called us stupid and threatened to arrest us again, we dashed, in joy, at a successful action.
I don't think anything happened inside, or afterwards, but i was gone by then. I was hoping people inside would stand up and say something, have a banner or whatever. Guess not.
Overall, quite a spectacular day. Here's to you, Bibi! Cheers . . . you fucking murderer.
See More Photos Here
Jews Against the Occupation
www.jewsagainsttheoccupation.org
Interested in becoming more involved with JATO?
If you are interested in becoming more involved with JATO, we would like to invite you to an orientation/discussion/kibitz/nosh to learn more about JATO - how the group works, what we do, how we position ourselves politically, etc. and for us to learn more about you.
If you would like to be invited to a future orientation please send an e-mail to:
jatonyc(at)yahoo(at)com.
NYC Indymedia
9/08 | What do you do when an ex-PM of Israel comes to town to talk about democracy? Chalk the Sidewalks!
When we heard that ex-Prime Minister Benyamin "Bibi" Netanyahu was coming to NYU at Astor place to speak for the annual "Caravan for Democracy" tour, we knew we had to do something.
With little time to prepare, we came with some chalk and covered the sidewalks to the brim. There were arrows pointing to the room where "War criminal is speaking now" to quotes form Bibi himself about settlements and expulsions, with statistics about him and israel, and words from all different kinds of groups there, including the Ad-Hoc Coalition for Justice in the Middle East, Jews Against the Occupation, The Divestment campaign, NYU groups, and more. The people who waited in line to see him speak had to walk by the chalk, sometimes directly over it. Waiting in line through the windows, they could see the chalks on the ground. "Lies: This way." "A Ghetto is a Ghetto". "Tear Down this Wall". "American Jews Say Enough!" and more. As it got closer to the time, more groups showed up with signs, chants started, flyers were dispersed, and miraculously, the cops (mostly NYU ones) didn't touch us. That was until the real pigs showed up and tried to put us all in a pen. Some went in, others stayed out. Lots of friendly discussions happened, and lots of people yelled dirty words at us. I remember one Jewish guy said to me, after i tried to give him a flyer, "Go to Hell!" I wanted to say, "But we Jews don't believe in hell!", but alas, my wit is not that fast. High school groups showed up to the event, and were stunned at our presence. Not sure if the political message got through (or even the radical message that you can BE jewish and BE against the occupation of Palestine by Israel), but we couldn't be ignored.
I remember seeing Bibi arrive. I knew what gate he was going through (its always the 3rd middle gate on astor, not the corner ones), but the protestors stayed on their corner. I saw the secret service everywhere surround him, the black car stopped, he had to walk a few feet to the gate (which happened to be the sidewalk area that we didn't chalk!!), so we yelled "WAR CRIMINAL! ARREST HIM!" He looked right at us, we looked at him, and he went on. Then the cop threatened to arrest us. So we left. Later, during his speech, we went back to that area where we knew he had to walk and did chalk outlines of bodies on the ground, so that he had to walk over them on the way to his car. After the cop called us stupid and threatened to arrest us again, we dashed, in joy, at a successful action.
I don't think anything happened inside, or afterwards, but i was gone by then. I was hoping people inside would stand up and say something, have a banner or whatever. Guess not.
Overall, quite a spectacular day. Here's to you, Bibi! Cheers . . . you fucking murderer.
See More Photos Here
Jews Against the Occupation
www.jewsagainsttheoccupation.org
Interested in becoming more involved with JATO?
If you are interested in becoming more involved with JATO, we would like to invite you to an orientation/discussion/kibitz/nosh to learn more about JATO - how the group works, what we do, how we position ourselves politically, etc. and for us to learn more about you.
If you would like to be invited to a future orientation please send an e-mail to:
jatonyc(at)yahoo(at)com.
