December 10: Human Rights Day in Israel

More than 10,000 people marched in Tel Aviv on this date in 2010 to mark Human Rights Day, including Jews, both religious and secular, as well as Muslim and Christian Palestinians, Africans from Somalia, Eritrea, and Sudan, straight and gay Israelis, foreign workers, and others. Some 130 organizations were represented, and signs read “Democracy: The Slippery Slope is Already Here”, “Jews and Arabs Refuse to be Enemies”, “Climate Change is Here – Let’s Stop It”, “We are All Refugees”, “When a Woman Says No She Means No”, and more. At the same time, the IDF was shooting tear gas and live ammunition at unarmed protestors in Nabi Saleh, a West Bank village only a short drive from Rabin Square, where the human rights gathering was taking place.
“The majority of the Israeli public believes that human rights are sacred. We have gathered here today to voice our call for the rights of all humans; to cry out against the curse of racism; to combat the socioeconomic gaps, violence against women, violence in our public discourse, and any other form of violence. And to the Palestinian people I say: Ours is a shared fate. We shall die together or live together. We have gathered here now to declare: We have chosen life.” —Sami Michael