Citzen's Arrest and Mass Disruption of Former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert in San Francisco

Bay Area residents attempted a citizen's arrest of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, while he gave a speech to the World Affairs Council in San Francisco on 22 October 2009. Twenty-two people were arrested for challenging Olmert directly and demanding he be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. Olmert has faced protests at Tulane University, University of Kentucky and the University of Chicago. The recent International Independent Fact-Finding Mission, headed by Judge Richard Goldstone, found evidence that Israel had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during a three-week long attack on the Gaza Strip last winter, killing more than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and destroying much of the area's infrastructure. In 2006, similar Israeli attacks on Lebanon killed 1,200 people. Olmert has refused to be held accountable.

 

 

Comments

[Justtellthetruth]

God Bless them. I hope Olmert is faced with similar receptions in every city that he speaks in.

[lightningbolt]

Self defense is not a war crime.

[Wisdo]

but Punishing entire populations is.

[lightningbolt]

Israel is not punishing the entire population of Gaza. Israel targeted Hamas members and accidentally killed civilians who were being used as human shields by Hamas. Israel also provides Gaza with electricity, fuel, food, and humanitarian supplies, something which Gaza's government, Hamas, does not do because they are too incompetent to govern anyone.

[LincolnParkChicago]

If I get into an argument with the mailman and he punches me in the nose, can I defend myself by pulling my gun and emptying it into him?
I am pretty sure that response would be a crime even though it was "self defense" of a sort. I think that what happened in Gaza was a crime.
Further I don't think it was selfdefense at all. For 8 years rockets had been falling near Sderot. At the time of the invasion, they had slowed to a rate not seen in years. Why self defense at that time? Levi and Barak's election poll numbers were down. This was a ploy to gain in the polls.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-levy/gaza-and-the-obama-effect_b_158359.html
IDF's Gaza incursions is Barak election ploy “GAZA - The escalation in violence between Israel and the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip over the last week is an Israeli provocation aimed at increasing Defense Minister Ehud Barak's standings in the polls” http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1037260.html

[Justtellthetruth]

Are you awar that when those "thousands" of rockets were fired during that period of time, that Israel shot 14,500 devastatingly accurate mortars into Gaza that killed hundreds of innocents? Are you aware that they sent in assination squads regularly who also had a very high civilian kill ratio?

Why destroy water treatment and distrubution plants? Flour making plants? Why bomb a school with white phosphorous?

[phute]

lightningbolt - can't you deal with reality?

[lightningbolt]

I can. Apparently all you Israel haters can't deal with reality. Hamas attacked Israel. Israel defended itself. It's very simple.

[Wisdo]

"Twenty-two people were arrested for challenging Olmert directly and demanding he be tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon"

What law did they break?

Its illegal to challenge a former Israeli Prime minister?

[Halminbar]

Would Abraham Lincoln face a citizen's arrest for the burning of Atlanta, would Churchill and FDR face it for the firebombing of Dresden, would Truman face it for Hiroshima and Nagasaki, would Bush and Blair face it for Iraq? Would Arab leaders face it for the execution of gay men? Would Chinese leaders face it for compelling women to undergo abortion because they already have a child?

Once more we see that Jews are being singled out and held to a standard to which the rest of the world is not judged.

[LincolnParkChicago]

A transparent rationalization to justify the actions of israel.

[lightningbolt]

Israel's actions are justified on the basis of self defense.

[Wisdo]

Keep pointing the finger somewhere else. Maybe it will work a little longer.

But we all see what Israel has become.

[lightningbolt]

Israel has become a much greater nation than all of its totalitarian neighbors.

[LincolnParkChicago]

If I got caught cheating on my taxes, could I say that everybody does it so the IRS is just picking on me because they don't like me? I don't know what the motive was behind Atlanta or Dresden. I do know that the use of nuclear weapons was a trade off based on the casualties of both Japanese and American soldiers when the Japanese coastal islands were taken. And I believe that I know the motive behind the Lebanon invasions, the Gaza incursion and the treatment of the Palestinians during the Intifadas. Even if you just focus on the shelling of the UN compounds and outposts (Qana shelling, shelling of UN outpost during 2nd Lebanese adventure and the shelling of the UN compound during the Gaza incursion) where innocent peacekeeping forces were killed. And there was no Hamas presence in the UN outpost that was shelled for hours and finally finished off with a (thank you American taxpayer) precision guided 500 lb bomb. Kofi Anan said that it appeared to be deliberate murder of 4 multinational UN observers. Mr. Olmert was behind that as well.

[NotoriousKelly]

Awesome!

Next time may the entire audience be protesters.

Rich, old white men delight only in the misery of others; may they have no comfort.

Confront them in their meetings, disrupt their sleep, gain employment at their businesses and work from the inside.

Street protests accomplish little or nothing. Guerilla actions are the way to go.

BRAVO!

[bayside]

We are all responsible for our own actions ,if not in this life, at the end of it..He will be held accountable.

[Tzippi]

Regardless of your position on the politics of the Israeli-Arab debate, the fact is that anyone who tries to explain the Israeli position is usually heckled and sometimes violently disrupted. This does not happen when the Arab side gives its opinions and speaches. Those of us who support Israel also understand that in order to come to some agreement we need to be respectful of the other side and listen to their opinions.

Apparently free speach is only important when you agree with the speaker.

[Garioch]

I'm pretty sure that you'll find plenty of evidence of the heckling of the other side if you look. That is of course on the all too few occasions they are actually given a platform and for that you would just have to watch the relative time given to the opposing views in the U.S. media.

[alexa07]

Garioch,
Isn't that the truth? For decades upon decades Palestinians have been given very short shrift to make their case in the USA; whereas, the Israeli position has been well purveyed throughout the entire range of media, including Hollywood, published fiction & non-fiction; the academic community & certainly multiple levels of govt. in the USA, most particularly the US Congress with its attendant big pro-occupation, pro-settlement lobbies. Suddenly, the tables are turning & the Israelis are being criticized by an increasingly greater number of Americans. It vindicates the position of those who have advocated for the Palestinians for yrs., but had difficulties finding a platform.

[TheLonelyGod]

So two wrongs make a right? Great argument!

[lungfish]

This is news to me but if it sets a precedent, that is great. Why don't we apply the citizen's arrest laws to Cheney, Bush, Yoo, Rice and co???

Wonder why it didn't make the MSM?

I really would like to see some resolutions to these crininal acts like the way they handled it in Peru and convicted Fujimori... it iwas awful to hear of Idi Amin dying peacefully and in freedom....

There needs to be accountability for these actions and whether its Israel, the US, or Bosnia, or Rawanda, or where ever else egregious abuses of power result in wanton death, destruction and persecution, there needs to be an accounting.

[jhNY]

Sorry to say this is the first place I've seen these protests of Olmert covered. I know we have freedom of the press, so why doesn't the free press report on these events?

[alexa07]

It is unconscionable that even the local news stations on their nightly news cast in San Francisco did not appear to be covering the protests, heckling & the attempted citizen's arrest of Olmert. It is business as usual. We see more cover given to Israeli violence in Gaza & Lebanon; muffling the discussion of the Goldstone Report as well as making sure as few people as possible know about the local protests.
What is significant is that these "local protests" so unnoteworthy to our corporate media are growing larger; happening all over the USA & must be making the American leadership in Congress & the Obama adm very uncomfortable. They are already responding with somewhat less enthusiasm for their old friend. Olmert, himself, looks increasingly more ridiculous & uncomfortable talking about peace too.

[Macready]

this is wonderful news . . I admire the Bay City residents who wanted to arrest olmert . . . I wish they had been able to arrest him for war crimes . . . it really is time that our AIPAC dominated Congress really got to grips with fact that most Americans do not want their tax dollars going to support the rogue state of israel . . . sometimes I wonder if it will take a civil war between the people and congress to end this cancerous relationship with israel

[alysheba 3]

Perhaps Americans need to be more informed. Unfortunately it seems that the media in the US prefers to play the blame game against Palestine. Hopefully the Goldstone report and the accessibility of non-American news media via the internet will help spread the truth.

In the mean time perhaps it is time for a phone blitz to Congress, similar to the one happening about health care. It can even be tied to health care with a script like:

Why does America give Israel billions to buy weapons with, freeing up their national economy to supply free health care and education to their citizens, when America could be using that money to supply health care and post-secondary education to it's own citizens? Why does Congress think Israeli citizens deserve better than American citizens?

If you are a Congress person who is worried about the military industrial complex losing jobs then please explain how these jobs have provided the perks to Americans that it provides to the Israelis? The military industrial complex does not provide free health care to its employees, nor does it offer free post secondary education to it's employees families.

Israelis always benefit more than Americans. Why is that more important to Congress?"

[mikep]

Goodness Alysheba, with all due respect you certainly are not well informed about the situation. Israel's GDP is over $175 billion a year, and American "aid" is only a couple of billion. Just over 1% of Israel's income, hardly enough to make that big a difference. If it was ended, it would cost Americans who work for the arms industries their jobs, but it wouldn't have much, if any, impact on Israel. Israel has health care and education because the Israelis work very, very hard, and they don't waste their money going around the world interfering with other countries and bombing other people. Only in very limited circumstances, and strictly and only in self-defense. Despite what the anti-semites say. Because they are in declared states of war with other countries, none of which Israel began or wants, they are forced to spend a lot on the military, but they still manage to keep their priorities together. Ending all aid to Israel isn't going to get us health care. In order to get that Americans have to face up to their own problems, and the collapse of their political and economic system, and stop blaming other people for their problems. American problems are not being caused by Israel, or China, or Afghanistan or Russia or any other country. They are caused by greed, selfishness and corruption in the USA, primarily by Christians.

[Macready]

alysheba3 . . I have written to Obama, my congressmen and my senators and will continue to write to stop funding and support for israel . . I really don't understand . . the US MSM only backs israel too . . it is like a huge conspiracy to keep the US citizens in ignorance of what is happening in the rest of the world . . . finally more an more Americans are learning the truth about israel . . .

Einstein and other prominent Jews warned Truman in 1948 not to get involved with israel . . . wise words totally ignore . . . Kennedy tried . . . got no where . . .

we just have to keep trying . . . this parasitic relationship has to end

[lightningbolt]

Self defense is not a war crime.