Pro-Palestinian rally in Quincy Center today to call for ceasefire

QUINCY − A rally demanding a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 15, at 4 p.m. in Quincy Center outside the offices of U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch at 1245 Hancock St.

Organizers want Lynch to speak up in favor of a ceasefire.

The protest is being promoted by three organizations: Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine, Massachusetts Peace Action and Jewish Voice for Peace Boston.

On Oct. 7, an attack carried out by Hamas militants killed about 1,200 Israelis and foreigners in areas adjacent to the Gaza Strip, Israeli officials say. In addition, Hamas took about 240 hostages during the attacks.

Subsequent actions, including bombings, by the Israeli Defense Forces have killed more than 11,000 people, the majority women and children, says the Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of Gaza's Hamas-led government. Israel has also cut off electricity, water, food and fuel shipments to the area, the United Nations says.

Why are the groups calling for a ceasefire

"It's a horrendous situation," said Massachusetts Peace Action Executive Director Cole Harrison. "The civilian toll has been unbelievable. Nobody support Hamas' attacks on civilians, but Israel's attacks kill far more civilians than Hamas ever did."

Cole said his organization has been criticized for supporting Hamas, which he denies.

"We're not supporting Hamas," he said. "We're supporting peace. But we do think Hamas has the right to resist being occupied. That's a hard truth that a lot of people don't want to hear."

"There has to be a ceasefire and peace talks," he said. "There has to be a political solution. We've got to have better political leadership."

Cole said the problem cannot be solved by military means.

"(Attacks on Gaza will) create tens and hundreds, whether you call them terrorists or militants, for every one (Palestinian death). It's self-defeating, and for the United States to enable that is unconscionable."

What pro-Israeli voices say about calls for a ceasefire

Beth Shalom Congregation of the Blue Hills Rabbi Alfred Benjamin spoke to The Patriot Ledger from Washington, D.C., where he attended the Stand with Israel march Tuesday. Rabbi said he is concerned about calls for a ceasefire.

"There's no concurrent demand from Hamas, no demand to return the 240 hostages, of which 36 are children, even babies," he said.

"There's no concurrent demand for Hamas to stop shooting rockets towards civilian areas in Israel. It's the absence of those demands ... that shows a clear one-sided perspective."

Rabbi Benjamin criticized organizations promoting the rally for not speaking up strongly against antisemitism. "To not call out Hamas atrocities, and yet speak up now against what Israel is doing ... does smack of a significant hypocrisy, and it may very well be antisemitic."

Rabbi Benjamin said he holds Hamas responsible for the Palestinians wounded, killed and displaced by bombings of the Israeli Defense Forces.

"Innocent people in Gaza are also held hostage by Hamas," Rabbi Benjamin said. "In reality, the tragedy of so many innocent civilians − it's terrible, it's heartbreaking − they're dying because they're being held hostage by these Hamas terrorists."

He said he does not identify the Palestinian people with Hamas. He said there are many in the Palestinian and Muslim communities who share his goal of two states living side by side in dignity and peace.

What pro-Palestinian Jewish voices are saying

Elsa Auerbach, a member of Jewish Voices for Peace and a professor emerita at UMass-Boston, said Lynch has taken laudable positions in the past, such as calling for an investigation into the death of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.

But she called Lynch's silence on a ceasefire a "political and moral outrage." Lynch could not be immediately reached for comment.

Auerbach said putting a focus on Hamas ignores the historical causes of the conflict, which she said is rooted in over 75 years of oppression of the Palestinian people.

"The Israelis did exactly what the settlers did in the U.S.," Auerbach said. "They came here and they drove people off their land. That's why this situation is erupting."

Responding to charges of antisemitism, Auerbach, whose parents escaped the Holocaust, said the claim is illogical because Israel is a country, not a religion.

"That's the whole policy of Israeli public relations, to say that anyone who disagrees with us or criticizes us is antisemitic.

"We're not criticizing (Israel) for being Jewish, we're criticizing (Israel) for doing things that contradict Judaism."

How many people are expected to attend the rally

Cole said he hoped 20 or 30 people will attend the event.

"It's hard to know," he said. "There's a lot of people who are upset about this.

"We did (an event) in Dorchester. We expected 20. We got 200. There were 3,000 in Copley marching on Sunday, but that was more of a metro-wide call to action."

What the Quincy police are saying about the event

Quincy police put out a news release Tuesday afternoon concerning the event:

"The Quincy Police Department is committed to protecting the privacy and rights of persons practicing their First Amendment right to assemble," the statement says.

"The Quincy Police Department has an excellent record in regard to police-community interactions, and our department will continue to protect our city and those who peacefully protest."

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Pro-Palestinian rally in Quincy calling for ceasefire