Photos by Nathan Frankel

By Nathan Frankel

December 30, 2008

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered for a second consecutive day in San Francisco yesterday to draw attention to what many are calling a human rights catastrophe in Gaza.

In downtown San Francisco, demonstrators snarled traffic outside the offices of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) in hopes of persuading the California senator to take a tougher stand against Israeli aggression.

The event was organized by several organizations including the Middle East Children’s Alliance, Jewish Voice for Peace and Direct Action to Stop the War.

As many as 360 Palestinians have been killed and over 1400 have been wounded since Israel began its aerial bombardment of the occupied territory on Saturday. Reports indicate that many of the Palestinians killed were civilian police officers not connected to Hamas, and the United Nations says 62 of those Palestinians killed so far have been women and children. Five Israeli’s have been killed by Hamas missile strikes since the airstrikes began.

Israel Air Force fighter-bomber jets have dropped more than one hundred tons of explosives on Gaza since Saturday while Israeli defense forces and armored corps troops have been deployed to the border. The situation in Gaza is especially dire as the 1.5 million inhabitants have been deprived of food and medical supplies for the past 18 months. Hospitals are overwhelmed and many have not been allowed to restock their supplies for over a year.

Barbara Lubin, Executive Director of the Middle East Children’s Alliance, has been working in Gaza for 20 years and will  return in two weeks with medical supplies. She said the supplies will have to be delivered by boat via Cypress because of an Israeli blockade.

When asked why it is appropriate to demonstrate in front of Feinstein’s office, Lubin said it is hypocritical of the senator, who is Jewish, to call for justice in Tibet and Darfur and be silent over the humanitarian issues that have existed in Gaza for many years.

Lubin said there will have to be major changes now if we’re going to stand collectively for human rights in the occupied territories.

Sami Kit of the Arab Resource and Organizing Council said it is important to pressure our elected officials and provide people with historical context.

“Israel made it clear they intended to starve Gaza over the past 18 months,” Kit said, “and that’s exactly what they’ve done. It’s important to get information out about the conflict, that the continuing violence is not simply the result of Israel defending itself.”