Foreign Policy Blogs

Israeli Demonstrations

In a show of opposition to the Israeli government and the blockade on the Gaza Strip, thousands of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square last night. We were driving around the area and there was some traffic congestion and we know something was afoot. However, the 15,000 protesters were barely a blip on the radar and put up an embarrassing performance compared to the hundreds of thousands that rally in the square during other protests and events.

In a similarly futile attempt, a group of Israeli students is showing its support for Israel’s raid on the Gaza flotilla by sending an “aid ship” to Turkey’s Kurdish population. While entertaining for its attempt to highlight Turkish hypocrisy, the student aid ship will assuredly sit in the shadow of the pending international inquiry into this week’s events and the students’ efforts will soon be forgotten. But, at least we got a chuckle out of it.

 

Author

Ben Moscovitch

Ben Moscovitch is a Washington D.C.-based political reporter and has covered Congress, homeland security, and health care. He completed an intensive two-year Master's in Middle Eastern History program at Tel Aviv University, where he wrote his thesis on the roots of Palestinian democratic reforms. Ben graduated from Georgetown University with a BA in English Literature. He currently resides in Washington, D.C. Twitter follow: @benmoscovitch

Areas of Focus:
Middle East; Israel-Palestine; Politics

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