Bravo to the organisers of the peaceful demonstration in the heart of Copenhagen - The Town Hall. As far as I can recall, for decades Denmark has had a strange mix of policies regarding Israel and Palestine. On the one hand, it was one of the few European countries, which let PLO open its office in the capital, Copenhagen, granted asylum to many Palestinian refugees while at the same time, Danish state, most political elite and media have been very pro-Israel. What Israel did or said was seldom openly questioned or criticised. In recent years, however a shift has occurred in the media coverage, political views and most strikingly in a changed public opinion. Israel has lost its good reputation and romantic aura due to harsh treatment of Palestinians inside the country, unending settlement buildings and excessive military response to Hamas provocations in Gaza. On top of this, on international level, the slow and steady move from leaf leaning to hard liner governments has been very damaging to Israel. This positive change in Danish public position was very visible when I visited a public demonstration that was called to protest the Israeli military action in Gaza over the latest developments in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In this huge public display of anger, disgust and protest against occupation, killings, and attacks on Gaza, I saw many native Danes – young, old, women and kinds mingling with Palestinian, other Arabs and various ethnic minority demonstrators. Another aspect, which is very important to emphasise was the nature of slogans and the presence of Danish and Palestinian flags fluttering together in a sunny evening breeze on 10th July . There were small and huge banners with slogans such as; Peace is possible, No to Occupation, Freedom for Gaza, Yes to Peace, Freedom for Palestine. I did not see one banner of hate against Jews, Israel or anyone else. I also saw Fathi El-Abed, the Chair of Danish Palestinian Friendship Society actually calming some youngsters who were shouting religious slogans. Bravo to the organisers of the demonstration and all our good wishes for a peaceful solution to Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 01:24:06 +0000
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