<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Report: Clashes at Israel rally for Palestinian&nbsp;state]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p><img src='https://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/126731_345x230.jpg' alt='' /></p>
<p>April 21, 2011</p>
<p>TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma&#8217;an) &#8212; Left-wing Israeli cultural leaders, including several Israel Prize laureates, were verbally accosted Thursday during a rally in support of an independent Palestinian state, reports said.</p>
<p>The rally was disrupted by right-wing activists equipped with bullhorns, who called out: &#8220;leftist professors, it will all blow up in your face,&#8221; &#8220;Kahane was right,&#8221; and &#8220;traitors,&#8221; the Haaretz daily said.</p>
<p>Rally organizers and participants, who included 21 Israel Prize laureates, told the newspaper that police forces did not separate rally-goers from objectors, as they usually do during right-wing events.</p>
<p>Following the clash, Israel&#8217;s defense minister released a statement urging restraint.</p>
<p>He said disagreements must be solved &#8220;without the word&#8217; &#8216;treason&#8217; and without violence.&#8221; &#8220;The state is facing fateful decisions and everyone wants a safe and strong Israel &#8230; I call on all to demonstrate responsibly.&#8221;</p>
<p>The group of 17 said Wednesday that they would sign a petition, calling for the creation of a Palestinian state, in a symbolic ceremony in front of the building where the state of Israel was proclaimed in 1948.</p>
<p>Among the petition&#8217;s prominent signatories are Menachem Yaari, the former president of Israel Academy of Sciences, Shulamit Aloni, the founder of the leftist Meretz party and Danny Karavan, a painter and sculptor.</p>
<p>All three are winners of the Israel Prize, which is considered Israel&#8217;s highest honor and is awarded each year in several fields, including for contribution to the nation.</p>
<p>The petition comes as Palestinian officials say they are increasingly determined to seek UN recognition for a state within the borders that existed before the start of the 1967 Six Day War.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are here to welcome the expected announcement of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, according to the borders of our Independence, fixed during the 1949 armistice,&#8221; the petition reads.</p>
<p>The armistice marked the end of the first Israeli-Arab war, which resulted in the birth of the Israeli state on borders that did not change until the Six Day War.</p>
<p>The petition warns ending Israeli occupation is the only way to fulfill the terms of the UN partition resolution, which called for the creation of a democratic Jewish nation and a democratic Arab nation.</p>
<p>&#8220;The complete end of the occupation is an essential condition of the liberation of the two peoples,&#8221; it reads.</p>
<p><strong>AFP contributed to this report.</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=381046">Source</a></p>
]]></html><thumbnail_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/126731_345x230.jpg?fit=440%2C330]]></thumbnail_url><thumbnail_width><![CDATA[]]></thumbnail_width><thumbnail_height><![CDATA[]]></thumbnail_height></oembed>