Weekly vigil in Brunswick well received

 

  

Yesterday 14 folks gathered at the busiest traffic intersection in Brunswick, Maine for a vigil calling for an end to apartheid Israel's attacks on Gaza and the West Bank in Palestine.

This weekly vigil began in early February of 2022 calling for No war with Russia. But the last two weeks it has morphed into one about Palestine.

The reception we received from the noon time traffic flowing into Brunswick on coastal Route 1 was quite positive - I counted only about 4 negatives - getting the middle finger from old women is quite unsettling. 

But we got lots of honks, waves and peace signs from passing motorists. It is a sign that the public is not buying all the corporate media brainwashing.

Israel targets church

The oldest Christian church in Gaza was damaged in an Israeli airstrike on Thursday evening, according to the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

In a statement on Friday, officials expressed the “strongest condemnation of the Israeli airstrike [on] its church compound in the city of Gaza,” and called the targeting of churches and the shelters they operate “a war crime that cannot be ignored.”

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs blamed “occupation warplanes” for the explosion, saying Israeli aircraft bombed the church, which is located in the Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City. At least 20 civilians were killed. 

An unknown number of people are still under the rubble of the meeting hall, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Jordan said on Facebook, citing one of the parishioners.

Despite Israeli (and US) statements that only Hamas is being targeted, it has become more than clear that in fact civilians are indeed being targeted which is indeed a war crime. One can only hope that the so-called 'Rules based international community' will soon file war crimes charges against Israel and its chief weapons supplier in Washington.

On Saturday our group will hold one of our monthly peace vigils on the bridge in Skowhegan (central Maine) beginning at 1:30 pm. It is expected that rain and wind will be greeting us but we plan to take this message to that busy location along Hwy 201 anyway.

Bruce