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COLUMBIA — George Smith brought an envelope to the Columbia Post Office on Thursday afternoon, but it wasn’t for the mailbox.
The manila envelope had the words “Free Gaza” scrawled across it in pen, and it contained Smith's statement on the situation in that region. He read it to about a dozen protesters from various Columbia peace organizations.
- Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation marches from the Walnut Street Post Office to Senator McCaskill's and Senator Blunt's offices on Thursday afternoon, supporting an end to the Israeli blockade of Gaza.
- Ruth Schaefer, right, holds a "Free Gaza" sign as members of the Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation talk with Claire McCaskill's Columbia Field Representative Allison Skare. The group held a "Rally for Gaza" that began with words in front of the post office on Walnut Street and continued with a march to Senators Claire McCaskill and Roy Blunt's offices.
- Taha Hameduddin signs a letter prepared by the Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation to be delivered to local politicians urging them to help promote a new U.S. policy towards Israel during a "Rally for Gaza" outside the post office. The fluctuating group of about 15-20 later marched to deliver the signed letters to Senators Claire McCaskill and Roy Blunt's offices.
The protestors had gathered in front of the post office and marched to Sen. Claire McCaskill and Sen. Roy Blunt’s offices in response to Greece’s denial of a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid items to the Gaza strip.
“We're here to tell them we want a new foreign policy that takes a fair and balanced approach to Israel and Palestine,” said human rights activist Jean Blackwood.
Neither McCaskill nor Blunt spoke directly with the protestors, but the senators' field representatives said they would relay the protestors' message.
According to The Associated Press, “Israel says it imposed the blockade in 2007 to stop weapons reaching Hamas, the Islamic militant group that rules Gaza.”
Another flotilla departed in May 2010 attempting to reach Gaza but was attacked by Israel.
The protesters' main goal was to urge U.S. legislative officials to support the end of the Israeli blockade.
“The material aid that’s part of the flotilla is entirely symbolic," said Smith, an MU biology professor and a member of Congregation Beth Shalom. "The idea is to break the siege to shame Israel into stopping the siege of Gaza.”
“Here in Columbia, we want to join folks around the world by calling attention to this ongoing violation of international law by Israel and the U.S. and to call for humane treatment of our brothers and sisters in Gaza,” said Jeff Stack, coordinator of the Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation.
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Comments
Good luck with that. Israel has no shame. Neither do the zealots who support it.
Mr. Allaire, it is sad and, frankly, offensive, that you call all of Israel's supporters zealots, when the only real zealotry on either side has come from extremists (Muslim, Jewish, and otherwise) who are not interested in peace. They are the minority, but unfortunately, the most publicized.
The Jews, Zionists, Christians, Americans, and many others who support the state of Israel have their own justifiable reasons for why the state should exist, and why it should be able to protect itself. Generalizing about Israel's supporters like that is much the same as generalizing about Muslims as terrorists or Southerners as rednecks.
Shaina Cavazos
@Shaina Cavazos:
Well said.
The subject of rednecks is a bit more complicated. Some "rednecks" drive Volvos and wear expensive suits.