Latest news with #ProPalestinianProtests
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Pro-Palestinian protests across country call on government to sanction Israel
Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii Protesters have assembled for pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the country, calling on the government to place sanctions on Israel for its war in Gaza. This week the government announced it was considering whether to join other countries like France, Canada and Australia in recognising Palestinian statehood at a UN leader's meeting next month. Demonstrators have taken to the streets in about 20 cities and towns, waving flags, holding vigils, and banging pots and pans to represent what a United Nations-backed food security agency has called "the worst case scenario of famine". Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii In Wellington, about 2000 protesters gathered at Te Aro Park, and formed a crowd almost a kilometre long during the march, an RNZ journalist estimated. One demonstrator, who carried a sign which read "Palestine is in our hearts", said the government had been "woefully silent" on what was happening in Gaza. Pro Palestinian protesters gather in Wellington on 16 August 2025 as part of nationwide demonstrations. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii It was her first protest, she said she intended to go to others in order to "agitate for our politicians to listen and take a stand". "I hope the country comes out in force today right across all of our regions, to give Palestine a voice, to show that we care, and to inspire action from our politicians - who have been woefully silent and as a result compliant in the genocide in Palestine." She said she wanted to see the New Zealand government sanction Israel and take a global stand against the war in Gaza. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii Another protester said the deaths of Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza this week was what had spurred him to join the crowd. "You know hearing about the attack on the journalists, the way they were targeting just one purportedly but were willing to kill [others] just to get their man. "It's not right." Pro-Palestinian protesters gather in Wellington on 16 August 2025 as part of nationwide demonstrations. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii Others in the capital carried signs showing Palestinian journalist Anas al-Sharif and his four Al Jazeera colleagues who were killed by an Israeli strike on a tent of reporters in Gaza. The IDF claimed that al-Sharif was working for Hamas - something Al Jazeera has repeatedly denied. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii Catch up on how it all unfolded with our blog. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
New York Times
22-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Killings Echo Earlier Assassination of Israeli Diplomat
More than 50 years ago, an Israeli diplomat was gunned down in his driveway in suburban Maryland after returning from a dinner party. On Wednesday night, two staff members at the Israeli Embassy were fatally shot as they left an event organized by the American Jewish Committee at the Capital Jewish Museum. The suspect, the police say, shouted, 'Free, free Palestine,' after he was in custody. The earlier case remained unsolved, but the parallels between the shootings are stark, echoing a combustible chapter in Israeli-Palestinian relations in which violence flared around the globe. 'It was a time of heightened tensions between Palestinians and Israelis just as they are today,' said Eugene Casey, a retired F.B.I. agent who investigated the killing of Col. Yosef Alon, the military attaché who was shot five times. Since Hamas's devastating attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel's large-scale response, pro-Palestinian protests spread across the United States, including at Israeli consulates and college campuses, during the grinding conflict in Gaza. The Trump administration and Israel are among those who have accused the protesters of promoting antisemitism and inciting violence against Jews with inflammatory rhetoric. Demonstrators and their supporters have denied the accusations and most of the protests have been nonviolent. 'Some believe the Oct. 7 terror attack was a just solution to a political problem,' said Lara Burns, a retired F.B.I. agent who investigated Hamas for years. 'And the normalization of that narrative provides a foundation for the advocacy of violence against the Jewish people and it manifested itself yesterday. ' 'The conflict is not just limited to the Middle East,' added Ms. Burns, who leads terrorism research at George Washington University's Program on Extremism. 'And it is on our doorstep today.' Before Colonel Alon's murder, tensions were also high across the world and in the United States. Months earlier, members of a Palestinian terrorist group known as Black September attacked Israeli citizens on German soil at the 1972 Olympic Games. The events played out on live television, shocking viewers. To promote their cause, a terrorist with suspected ties to Black September tried to detonate three car bombs in New York City in March 1973. The bombs were timed to coincide with a visit by Prime Minister Golda Meir of Israel. Eventually, the violence arrived at the doorstep of Mr. Alon, a decorated fighter pilot who had settled in Chevy Chase, Md., with his wife and three daughters. He had been sent to the United States to make sure that Israel had access to advanced fighters in the event of war with surrounding Arab countries. After he arrived home that night, parking in his driveway, his wife exited the car first, gunshots ringing out the second she reached the porch. The attackers fled and she was spared. The assassination triggered a major F.B.I. investigation. Mr. Alon's killing was never solved, though the C.I.A. suspected Palestinian terrorists carried out the plot. As part of his investigation, Mr. Casey interviewed Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, the Venezuelan terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal who is imprisoned in France. He told Mr. Casey that Americans who sympathized with the plight of the Palestinians were behind the operation. Mr. Casey retired before he could interview a list of people who might have been involved, leaving the case unsolved. By contrast, a suspect was quickly identified in the shooting late Wednesday. The police, naming the gunman as Elias Rodriguez, 30, said he was spotted pacing in front of the museum beforehand. He approached four people who were leaving the event, shooting two embassy aides and then entered the museum, where he was detained by security officers. Investigators descended on his home in Chicago the next day. The F.B.I. was investigating whether he left behind clues pointing to the reasons behind the attack, a law enforcement official said, and whether the shooting was indeed a hate crime. A post on social media on Wednesday night from an account that The New York Times verified as belonging to the suspect condemned the Israeli and American governments. His writings also cite Israeli military actions against Palestinians, but they do not mention the approximately 1,200 men, women and children slain on Oct. 7 in Israel, the single deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Despite the similarities in the two cases, there is one important difference, Mr. Casey said. 'It's tragic, but the families will have some closure,' he said. 'I was glad the guy was captured at the scene unlike our case. I wish we had DNA back in 1973. There will be no open questions about who killed them.' Mr. Casey said he still felt 'terrible' that Mr. Alon's case remained unsolved. In the wake of the latest killings, he added, he hoped the F.B.I. picks up where he left off in 2017 and finally puts the case to rest.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Seattle weather: Soggy and cloudy for Mother's Day
SEATTLE - Pockets of heavy rain and even lightning strikes are a possibility for Mother's Day in Seattle. Make sure to keep a rain jacket and umbrella close by. Highs will lift from the upper 50s to the low 60s in Seattle on Sunday afternoon. If you have plans to celebrate the mother figures in your life, I'd suggest having a 'plan b' for going inside should soggy and stormy weather develop. Any thunderstorms will be isolated in nature. While rain may make driving difficult, we're not expecting storms to be anywhere near the "severe" threshold. Tomorrow, there's a slightly better chance of thunder, but the possibility is still small. Monday will be a weird weather day: at times there could be sunbreaks. At other points, it might be damp. On Tuesday, we'll likely manage to have a dry day. Isolated showers are possible on Wednesday. Thursday might be dry during much of the day before showers return in the linger on Friday. Wetter weather may be in store for Saturday. Stay tuned for the latest on your forecast. This outlook is subject to change. Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mother figures out there!Warmly, Meteorologist Abby Acone New area code coming to Seattle area in June. What to know WA's first In-N-Out gets closer to opening date VIDEO: Dramatic arrest of WA mother carrying toddler, stolen gun Pro-Palestinian protesters cause $1M in damage at UW, 34 arrested Health experts say 'harmless' symptoms could be signs of blood disease 2 WA brothers arrested after high-speed pursuit on I-90 Video shows shackled inmate escape custody at Sea-Tac, board light rail To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter. Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national news.
