Just a little anti-war demonstration in Haifa

The first thing I saw onThursday evening, 1 August, after getting off the bus at UNESCO Square (in front of Haifa’s Bahai gardens), were the police cars parked on the pavement encircling the roundabout. And then, as I drew closer, it appeared to me that there may be more police officers there than protestors. Perhaps about 25-30 of each. Just a little anti-war protest.

Before showing you what I saw, I want you to see the only one of several photographs taken by fellow freelance journalist, Yair Gil, that he posted on his website:

This photograph is used under the Fair Use section (19) of Israel’s Copyright Law.

Gil’s caption tells us that this was a demonstration on 1.8.24, the 300th day of war. He notes that there were more police officers than protestors and they lost their patience and dispersed the demonstration, taking two people into custody. (The sign being held up on the right side of the photo reads: “No war in Lebanon.”

Take a moment and consider what impact this image has on you.

Here is what I saw

I stood on the island between the lanes of traffic and took this video:

The signs I can read say: “Stop the war (in Hebrew),” “Free Palestine,” “”From the river to the sea peace and equal rights (Russian, thank you Ira)”, “Ceasefire and hostage deal now (Hebrew),” “Hands off Rafah,” “Israel destroys hospitals [can’t read the rest] (Hebrew),” “Haifa ❤️ Gaza,” “40,000 killed, 80,000 injured, until when will we be silent?” “Stop the genocidal war (in Arabic),” “Enough genocide (Hebrew),” “Enough torturing prisoners (Hebrew).”

This sounds kind-of anti-Israeli to me. If I had any doubt, then the Palestinian flags were brought out. Look how quickly the police act:

A short conversation

This is the point at which the police officers started to lose patience. I still had time to ask one of the demonstrators a few questions before the crowd was dispersed. She was standing alone and I crossed the street to approach her, reading her sign out loud: “Together we will win [יחד ננצח]” and she laughed, correcting me: “Together we will be killed [יחד נרצח].” Oops.

After introducing myself, I asked her how she thinks we have to end the war. She started with a monotone recitation of propaganda bytes: “killing brings killing, violence brings violence,” and I stopped her, asking her to be specific about what she thinks Israel needs to do now. She admitted that it is not “very simple” and requires a diplomatic agreement and not a military one.

After asked her to list what paragraphs would be in that agreement, she went back to a recitation of how we got to this state:

…years of discrimination, of war, of occupation…it [the agreement] has to be on many fronts… that is, the neglect and discrimination has to end. In Gaza there has to be a permanent arrangement, also in Jerusalem and also in the occupied territories…an agreement that first takes care of the neglect and the discrimination and the occupation. Only after there is a foundation of human rights for everyone.

I mentioned that she is asking to end the war now yet she is giving me issues to be dealt with after the war. How do we end the war, I asked. “It goes together,” she answered.

And then the police quietly arrested one woman and dispersed the rest. I did not see the second arrest.

The dispersal

The crowd went up the street and the police followed. Thinking the protest was over, I stopped when I got to the bus station where I could catch my bus home. Twenty minutes passed. No bus.

Lesson in on-the-scene reporting

Then I saw Gil coming back down the hill. I asked him if anything happened farther along that I missed by stopping at the bus stop. They continued the protest at another corner, he told me, singing old partisan songs and pulling out the Palestinian flags again. I expressed my disappointment at having not followed the crowd all the way and asked him if he will be posting photos or videos from what I had missed.

He answered: “I don’t post images of the Palestinian flag.”

Hmmmm. Need I say more?