{"id":49835,"date":"2024-05-14T00:50:04","date_gmt":"2024-05-14T00:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/14\/protesters-disrupt-israeli-memorial-day-events-over-war-raging-in-gaza\/"},"modified":"2024-05-14T00:50:04","modified_gmt":"2024-05-14T00:50:04","slug":"protesters-disrupt-israeli-memorial-day-events-over-war-raging-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/14\/protesters-disrupt-israeli-memorial-day-events-over-war-raging-in-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Protesters Disrupt Israeli Memorial Day Events Over War Raging in Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"549\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/05\/13\/multimedia\/13mideast-crisis-israel-tensions-hfpc\/13mideast-crisis-israel-tensions-hfpc-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,549&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Protesters Disrupt Israeli Memorial Day Events Over War Raging in Gaza\" title=\"Protesters Disrupt Israeli Memorial Day Events Over War Raging in Gaza\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israelis gathered across the country on Monday for the first national day of mourning since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks, with protesters disrupting several ceremonies as they demanded that government ministers do more to secure the release of hostages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israel\u2019s Memorial Day is normally one of the most somber on the country\u2019s calendar, a date when Israelis put aside their differences to grieve fellow citizens killed in war or terrorist attacks. But the protests on Monday underscored how feelings of wartime unity have given way to deep disputes over the war in the Gaza Strip, the fate of hostages taken on Oct. 7 and domestic politics.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Critics heckled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he attended a memorial at <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/04\/16\/world\/middleeast\/israel-national-memorial-hall.html\" title=\"\">Mount Herzl<\/a> in Jerusalem, the site of Israel\u2019s national cemetery. One person was heard shouting, \u201cGarbage.\u201d Another said, \u201cYou took my children.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At a ceremony in Ashdod, on the Mediterranean coast, bystanders shouted at the national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, calling him a \u201ccriminal,\u201d before his supporters tried to drown them out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While the government has managed to secure the release of more than 100 hostages abducted by Hamas in the attacks, at least half of the roughly 240 people who were taken are either dead or still in captivity. Many of their loved ones want the government to agree to an immediate cease-fire with Hamas that would allow for the remaining captives to be released, even it means leaving Hamas in control of parts of Gaza.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The disruptions have precedent. Protesters taunted Mr. Ben-Gvir and other ministers <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/04\/25\/world\/middleeast\/israel-memorial-day.html\" title=\"\">last year<\/a>, before the war began, when anger over the government\u2019s efforts to overhaul the judicial system were the most prominent source of social division.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">This year\u2019s protests reflected growing anguish among parts of the population about the way Mr. Netanyahu\u2019s right-wing coalition government has handled the war, causing enormous casualties and destruction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Netanyahu has repeatedly pledged total victory over Hamas. But fighting across the Gaza Strip in recent days has underlined the notion that Hamas militants are still a force in the territory and might remain one for a long time to come. The pattern that has emerged in the war is that, after pitched battles, Israel\u2019s military declares that it has taken control of an area and then moves on, only for Hamas fighters to return and reconstitute their forces.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Monday, Israeli airstrikes shook the northern and southern ends of the territory, with the Israeli military saying it had struck more than 120 targets over the past 24 hours. Ground troops also engaged Hamas fighters in several locations, the Israeli military said. Amid the fighting, tens of thousands of fleeing civilians continued a desperate search for safety.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The fighting appeared to be heaviest in Gaza City, Beit Lahia and Jabaliya in northern Gaza, and in Rafah, the southern city where <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/12\/world\/middleeast\/rafah-gaza-evacuation.html\" title=\"\">more than one million Palestinians had fled to try to escape<\/a> Israel\u2019s military offensive farther north. In recent days, hundreds of thousands have left Rafah, according to the United Nations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Hamas said on Monday that it had launched mortars at Israeli soldiers near the Rafah crossing, which links Gaza and Egypt and has been closed since Israel seized it last week. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A spokesman for the United Nations said Monday that a U.N. staff member was killed Monday morning when a U.N. vehicle was struck on the way to a hospital in Rafah. Around 200 United Nations staff have been killed in the conflict.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israeli society closed ranks behind the government and military immediately after the Hamas-led Oct. 7. But critics increasingly blame Mr. Netanyahu for <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/11\/30\/world\/middleeast\/israel-hamas-attack-intelligence.html\" title=\"\">failing to prevent the attacks<\/a>, which the Israeli authorities say killed roughly 1,200 people, and for prolonging the war without winning the return of the hostages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/en.idi.org.il\/articles\/54052\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">poll conducted this month<\/a> by the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem-based research group, suggests that a majority of Israelis see a hostage deal as a priority over a military operation in Rafah. Israeli officials call the city <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/08\/world\/middleeast\/rafah-gaza-aid-israel-un.html\" title=\"\">Hamas\u2019s last major stronghold in Gaza<\/a>, with battalions of fighters concealed there, but U.S. officials say that the group\u2019s leaders in the territory are hiding in the city of Khan Younis, not Rafah.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/10\/world\/middleeast\/ceasefire-hostages-israel-hamas.html\" title=\"\">Israel and Hamas have not agreed to a cease-fire<\/a> and hostage release, despite months of mediation. And Mr. Netanyahu has insisted that Israeli forces will invade Rafah, with or without such a deal, amid threats by his far-right coalition partners to bring down the government if the war ends without the total defeat of Hamas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Monday at a Memorial Day ceremony in Holon, in central Israel, hecklers shouted at Miri Regev, the transportation minister, and called on her to resign. One asked: \u201cWhat about the hostages?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As Yoav Gallant, the defense minister, attended a ceremony in Tel Aviv, a protester held up a sign that said: \u201cTheir blood is on your hands.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Sunday night, Israeli peace activists broadcast their annual Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremony, with parallel events in London, New York and Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The ceremony is organized by Combatants for Peace and the Parents Circle-Families Forum, two peace-building organizations, and tries to recognize not only Israeli grief, but also the toll of Palestinian suffering over the decades.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The ceremony, held annually since 2006, was prerecorded this year to avoid the possibility of disruption by protesters. It featured speeches, songs, a poem about peace and a video that showed children in Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank talking about the effect of war.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Palestinians in the West Bank did not participate in person, given that Israel stopped allowing many Palestinians to work in Israel after the Oct. 7 attacks. There were also no direct contributions by speakers in Gaza.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">More than 35,000 people have been killed in Gaza during Israeli\u2019s military campaign to defeat Hamas, mostly children and women, health officials there say. Almost everyone in Gaza has been displaced from their homes amid a hunger crisis that aid workers say has been largely caused by Israeli restrictions on aid deliveries to the enclave.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The peace groups\u2019 ceremony, which was screened at more than 200 venues in Israel, reflected the diversity and complexity of opinion within Israeli society about the war. Several speakers discussed their hope for an end to generations of bloodshed, and for peace.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ghadir Hani read a contribution from a woman in Gaza, whose name was given only as Najla, describing how she had lost 20 family members in the war, including her brother, a father of two, who she said had been killed while going to look for food for his parents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThey killed him while walking in the street though posing no threat whatsoever,\u201d Ms. Hani read. \u201cThe death machine is still ready to kill,\u201d she added. \u201cBut I know that on the other side there are many people who believe in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Liam Stack<!-- --> and <!-- -->Lauren Leatherby<!-- --> contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/13\/world\/middleeast\/protests-israel-memorial-day.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Israelis gathered across the country on Monday for the first national day of mourning since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks, with protesters disrupting several ceremonies as they demanded that government ministers do more to secure the release of hostages. Israel\u2019s Memorial Day is normally one of the most somber on the country\u2019s calendar, a date [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/05\/13\/multimedia\/13mideast-crisis-israel-tensions-hfpc\/13mideast-crisis-israel-tensions-hfpc-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[758,6898,5843,43,1178,37916,2403,3989,3102],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49835"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49835"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49837,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49835\/revisions\/49837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}