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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Latest hostage rally demanding deal with Hamas takes on stronger political tones |
| 2024-02-04 |
| [IsraelTimes] Organizers and speakers at weekly protest in Tel Aviv say faith in the government needs restoring, accuse Netanyahu of being guided by desire to avoid elections Not even pretending to pretend they’re apolitical anymore, the paid frontpersons of the international Progressive left continue their efforts to overthrow the elected Netanyahu government using any excuse plausible. At least they’ve stopped importing foreign Antifa cadres to make the speeches. Speeches at the weekly Tel Aviv rally demanding the return of hostages held in Gaza took a more strongly political tone than ever before on Saturday night, with speakers accusing the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of being indifferent to the hostages’ fate and Netanyahu of being guided by personal considerations and stalling to avoid investigations and elections.At previous rallies at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, organizers and speakers had adhered to a nonpartisan line, drawing a clear distinction between their movement, which is centered on retrieving hostages in Gaza, and anti-government protests that took place elsewhere at the same time. This departure from previous policy was evident at the Hostages and Missing Families Forum’s weekly rally, its 17th, which thousands attended. Emcee Rami Beja opened it, calling retrieving the hostages "the only way to restore confidence in the country’s leadership." At previous rallies, he had urged participants to refrain from "engaging in politics." Ronen Manelis, a reserves brigadier general and former Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, elaborated on his lack of confidence in that leadership. Not far from Hostages Square, several thousand people protested against the government on Kaplan Street. Participants, including some relatives of hostages, intermittently blocked traffic on the adjacent Ayalon Highway and Ibn Gvirol streets amid festivities with police. Officers on horseback and others were filmed driving back protesters and detaining some. That’ll be the direct action Black Bloc faction getting their jollies by violence against the police, innocent bystanders, and public and private property. The Kaplan Street anti-government protest and another such rally at Habima Square took place for the sixth consecutive week. Footage from those protest protests showed participants holding up signs and chanting slogans calling for Netanyahu’s resignation.According to numerous unconfirmed reports, Hamas is demanding far-reaching concessions for a second deal. National Security Minister Ben Gvir last week called some of the reported terms of that deal — including a weeks- or even months-long ceasefire and the release of thousands of Netanyahu has ruled out releasing thousands of prisoners for the hostages. He has also rejected a key Hamas demand — ending the war and withdrawing the IDF as a condition for any further hostage releases, insisting that the war will end only when Hamas is destroyed and all hostages released. A key argument against the reported terms of a second deal with Hamas is the danger to security that the release of many convicted A different group of families of hostages, the Tikvah Forum, ...also spelt Tikva Forum... disputes such assertions. Its members, who include parents of some of the hostages in Gaza, reject making concessions to Hamas and argue in favor of freeing the hostages either by force or through a deal that would not "endanger other Israelis," as they have phrased it.Another rally with hundreds of participants marched through Jerusalem Saturday night demanding an immediate release of the hostages. Some of the participants carried signs and rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud critical of the government, including ones demanding Netanyahu’s resignation. Related: Hostages and Missing Families Forum: 2024-01-21 An ideological minority of parents of hostages held by Hamas oppose negotiations Hostages and Missing Families Forum: 2024-01-14 ‘Enough!’: 120K attend kickoff of 24-hour rally for hostages’ release after 100 days; 1000s rally for new elections in Haifa Hostages and Missing Families Forum: 2024-01-02 Kibbutz Be’eri resident Ilan Weiss, missing since Oct. 7, is confirmed killed |
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