Protest at Friends of the IDF Fundraiser

On March 9, Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, a tax-exempt organization that provides support and services to members of Israel’s army, will be holding a gala $1,000 a plate fundraiser at the Waldorf Astoria H. The keynote speaker will be Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, IDF Chief of General Staff, who was responsible for the prosecution of last year’s Operation Cast Lead against the people of Gaza. At the same time as the dinner, a broad coalition of local groups will stage a mobile protest outside the hotel to highlight the crimes committed by the IDF during Operation Cast Lead and Israel’s ongoing illegal blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Tuesday, March 9, 5-7 P.M.

Meet at 53rd St. and Lexington Ave., then moving through the neighborhood.

Gabi Ashkenazi led the Israeli military assault against the people of Gaza in December 2008-January 2009, in which 1,400 Palestinians were killed, more than one-fifth of whom were children. Under Ashkenazi’s leadership, the Israel Defense Forces attacked schools and hospitals and flouted international humanitarian law and the laws of war with regard to the treatment of unarmed civilians.

The protest outside the Waldorf Astoria is a part of the 6th International Israeli Apartheid Week.

Co-sponsoring groups include: A.R.T. (Activist Response Team), Adalah-NY, American Jews for a Just Peace, Brooklyn For Peace, Center for Immigrant Families, Codepink, Committee for Open Discussion of Zionism, Gaza Freedom March, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions-USA, Jewish Voice For Peace, Jews Say No!, Judson Church, Middle East Crisis Response, National Lawyers Guild – NY Chapter, NYC Anti-War Coalition, New York Collective of Radical Educators, Post Road, Progressive Democrats of America, Regeneración Childcare NYC, WESPAC Foundation, Women In Black Union Square, Women of a Certain Age, Woodstock Veterans For Peace.

Endorsed by the Israeli groups: Coalition of Women for Peace, Boycott! Supporting the Palestinian Call for BDS From Within.