NYC protest hits Israeli assassination
By Dustin Langley
New York
"Abdel Aziz Rantissi was a son of Palestine, a
refugee, and a symbol of resistance against a racist apartheid
regime," said Rama Kased of the New York City chapter of
Al-Awda, the Palestine Right of Return Coalition.
On April 17, this symbol of resistance was gunned down along
with two of his bodyguards. Rantissi, a pediatrician and the
head of Hamas, was killed when Israeli helicopter gunships
fired missiles at his car in Gaza City. The assassination came
less than a month after Hamas founder and spiritual leader
Sheik Ahmed Yassin died in an Israeli helicopter strike.
On April 18, some 200 Palestinians and supporters gathered
across the street from the Israeli Mission to the United
Nations in New York to denounce the killing of Rantissi.
Protesters, many carrying Palestinian flags, denounced the
Israeli policy of assas sinating Palestinian resistance
leaders. They filled the sidewalk across the street from the
mission, holding signs that read, "Bush and Sharon are war
criminals," "Globalize the Intifada" and "Stop U.S. and Israeli
war crimes."
A coalition of Palestinian, Muslim, Arab and solidarity
groups, including Al-Awda, the Muslim American Federation, New
Jersey Solidarity and the International Action Center,
organized the demonstration after learning of Rantissi's
murder.
Charlotte Kates of New Jersey Soli darity/Activists for the
Liberation of Palestine said: "This demonstration was an
important and necessary response to the Israeli policy of
assassination that has been a part of the war continually being
waged against the Palestinian people. This demonstration shows
that the people of Palestine, with the full support of
progressive forces around the world, will never be defeated by
massacres and assassinations and will continue their struggle
for freedom and for return."
A statement released by the organizers said: "This brutal
murder is not just targeting Al-Rantissi or the Hamas movement,
but is a systematic attack against the entire Palestinian
national movement. It aims to deny them of their leaders ...
and attempts to criminalize the legitimate right to resist
colonial occupation."
The assassination came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon met with U.S. President George W. Bush on April
14. Bush gave his full support to Sharon's brutal policies.
Over 200,000 people filled the streets of Gaza City for the
funeral procession, chanting, "We will sacrifice our souls and
blood for Rantissi." Protesters also took to the streets in
Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon.
The military wing of Hamas has promised a "volcano of
revenge" against the Israeli occupation.
Reprinted from the April 29, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
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