Calling on Israel to “Repent” During Yom Kippur

SAN FRANCISCO (09-18) – Chanting “You can’t atone for genocide” and “There is no forgiveness for genocide,” pro-Palestinian peace activists demonstrated outside the Israeli Consulate two days before Yom Kippur, the sacred Jewish religious holiday of atonement when a person asks God for ethical and spiritual change. The reconciliation includes “regret for wrongdoing, deciding to change, and verbal confession of the sins.” As such, the activists announced that “We are holding the Israeli government accountable during this sacred time for the abhorrent and ceaseless crimes being committed against the people of Palestine.” In recognizing that the mid-term election may see a Democratic majority in the House and Senate, the Trump administration in a desperate preemptive maneuver has again invoked “emergency powers” to provide the Israeli military with an inordinate number of one-ton bombs to restock its arsenal. These are the same type of bombs used by Israel in its genocide in Gaza along with the bombings of the illegally occupied West Bank, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. The $2.8 billion purchase for 40,000 of these bombs, along with another 20,000 I-2000 penetrator warheads, will be paid for by U.S. taxpayers by utilizing monies in the Pentagon’s budget for “foreign military sales” that will directly benefit U.S. corporate munitions manufacturers. The aggregate lethality of which collectively is equal to 2.5 Hiroshima nuclear bombs. The pending sale, however, is being challenged by Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY), a ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee who has placed a hold on the transaction by noting the “Trump administration has not provided sufficient assurances that these weapons will be used by the Netanyahu government in accordance with U.S. law and with appropriate protections for civilians.” This latest sale follows an earlier one in March concluded by Secretary of State Marco Rubio when he invoked emergency powers resulting in a $4 billion purchase of 35,000 one-ton bombs. Providing such vast quantities of these highly lethal weapons is morally indefensible as it only encourages the continued genocide in Gaza, Israeli aggression, forever wars along with further conflicts in the region while supporting the modern Zionist expansionist goal of “a greater Israel.” These messages were not lost on protesters who after hearing from a speaker who invoking Jewish repentance rituals called on “Israel to repent” by saying “There is no godliness in genocide. Teshuva (repentance) for the genocide against Palestinians. End the genocide now. End the occupation now.” Afterward the speaker read a litany of recent killings, war crimes, bombings, detentions, settler violence, and human rights violations committed by Israel. This was followed by a die-in on the sidewalk outside the Consulate building before the group moved into the building’s lobby where they continued the die-in while chanting before being removed by police. After promising to return soon, protesters encouraged people to call or write their elected representative in support of the “Ban the Bombs Act” H.R. 3565: To provide for a limitation on the transfer of defense articles and defense services to Israel.
Report and photos by Phil Pasquini
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