DEL.ICIO.USUpdated: 7:15 p.m. January 03, 2009
Pro-Palestinian protesters march on CNN headquarters
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Protesters calling for Israel to stop its assault on Gaza lined the sidewalk in front of CNN’s headquarters Saturday.
“Gaza, Gaza, don’t you cry, in our hearts, you’ll never die,” chanted the crowd, which numbered about 50 when the protest began at 2 p.m., but more than doubled in size within 30 minutes.
Kristi E. Swartz / kswartz@ajc.com
Protestors on Saturday said they considered Israel’s assault on Gaza a ‘war crime.’
MIKKI K. HARRIS / mkharris@ajc.com
Ghadeer Ramahi (center) marches in the rally along Marietta Street.
Kristi E. Swartz / kswartz@ajc.com
The protest, held in front of CNN’s headquarters in downtown Atlanta, was the third since the attacks started.
Some held signs calling for Israel to end its attacks on Hamas-occupied Gaza. Others compared the massacre to the Holocaust or to South Africa’s apartheid.
“The perpetual violence has to stop,” said Tim Franzen , who works for the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization. Franzen said the group has staff in Gaza.
Reda Mansour, consul general of Israel to the Southeastern United States, said people are being misled by the protestors’ message. “They think it’s a war between Israel and Palentine, and it’s a war between Palestine and Hamas,” he said. “We also want to free Palestine. The occupier is not Israel, it’s Hamas.”
Saturday’s protest is the third in Atlanta this week. The other two were held last Saturday and Tuesday in front of the Consulate General of Israel . The protestors decided to gather in front of CNN to call attention to media coverage of the attacks, which are in their eighth day.
“The media in the U.S. has a tradition of not providing an unbiased message,” said Ziyaad Lunat , one of the protest organizers. “They dehumanize the Palestinians.”
The Emory Advocates for Justice in Palestine; Athens Justice for Palestine; and the International Action Center organized the protest. Similar ones are being held in other cities across the nation and in other countries.
“Every person here is outraged by the military assault in Gaza,” said Dianne Mathiowetz , one of the organizers. “This, under all international law, is a war crime.”
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