Anti-Israel groups hold protest in Mumbai during Benjamin Netanyahu's visit

Protestors with banners of Ahed Tamimi at Azad Maidan yesterday PicsDatta KumbharThe IndiaPalestine Solidarity Forum the Communist Party of IndiaM CPIM and a raft of other organizations especially Islamic bodies and leftist outfits and individuals held a protest on Thursday at Azad Maidan with a message for the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who was in the city Go Back The red flags of the Communist party fluttered with sloganeering drawing a curious audience at Azad Maidan which is currently a hive of temporary construction activity for the Mumbai marathon that will take place on SundayTamimi whoThere were several banners with pictures of Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi This teenager has been jailed by Israel for slapping an Israeli soldier The slap some reports say was because Tamimi was riled that her cousin had been shot in the face by rubber pellets as he was protesting in Israel While Tamimis face was on several banners not everybody quite knew what she stood for One gentleman at the protest smiled sheepishly when asked if he knew who the young woman was on the banner he was carrying and said to his companion Hey say who she is There were a group of women in full veils with Tamimis posters who did not know about her They said I do not know we were told to come here by our sir He always brings us to protests we want online admission for our childrenProtestors with banners of Ahed Tamimi at Azad Maidan yesterday PicsDatta KumbharSmita Salunkhe from the IndiaPalestine Solidarity Forum said that We need to stand together to free Ahed Tamimi Israel is committing crimes against humanity We are on the brink of World War III When told that Israelis have accused Tamimi of being an actor actually earning the label of Shirley Temper a play on the actor Shirley Temple a popular American child star Salunkhe smiled grimly and said We are going to stand with PalestineDont support BibiObaid Ur Rehman president of the Islamic Students Organization said No peace lover should support Benjamin Netanyahu It is Israel that is responsible for the Gaza blockade Many other activists invoked the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi Gandhi always said India supported Palestine so why are we veering away now they asked even as Communist comrades hit a crescendo with their hai hai go back and shouted about Netanyahu being a terrorist One man yelled Free Palestine Free Mazdoors Free AdivasisAkhtar Khan from a student organization called I Support Akhilesh Yadav said Israel is the birthplace of terror while Farooq Mapkar of Bharat Bachao Andolan spoke about the apartheid wall in Israel and claimed Mossad may have been involved in the 2611 attacks in MumbaiBy now the crowd had swelled substantially and US president Donald Trump had become the target of barbs Trump earned ire for his moving the US embassy to Jerusalem effectively recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of IsraelNo renamingMeanwhile comrade Prakash Reddy said reacting to recent reports about a proposal to rename a square in the Kala Ghoda area after former Israel Prime Minister Shimon Peres The BJP was supporting this proposal There is no logic to naming a place after Peres he has played no part in the history of the city If such a move is made cunningly we will go and burn down the boardThe proposal came about after the Federation of IndoIsrael Chamber of Commerce first suggested it It was rejected in the meeting of the group leaders of various parties in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC recently Reddy added A lot of this socalled IndiaIsrael closeness is done for defense deals but in fact Israel is not good at fighting terror When the attacks happened here Israel did not know what was going on at the Chabad House They have also never fought ISIS The protestors broke into song and speeches then about Palestine and chants of Modi hai hai went up as one left the maidanCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news current affairs from Mumbai local news crime news and breaking headlines hereDownload the new midday Android and iOS apps to get updates on all the latest and trending stories on the go