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CNN Live Saturday

Israeli Peace Rally Gets Under Way in Tel Aviv

Aired May 11, 2002 - 12:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN ANCHOR: In the Middle East, Israel's West Bank offensive has ended, but many Palestinians expect an attack in Gaza. Israeli military units have amassed around the area in preparation for a possible strike, in response to a recent suicide bombing.

However, there are reports that Israeli officials are debating whether to go ahead with the offensive. Palestinians in Gaza have been preparing for the Israeli attack. People are hoarding food, and armed men are patrolling the streets.

Amid all the talk of war, there is a call for peace. At this hour, advocates for peace are gathering in Tel Aviv for a demonstration. CNN's Jerrold Kessel is standing by live in Tel Aviv with all the details -- Jerrold.

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Jeanne, and we are now in the heart of Tel Aviv, in the main square called Rabin Square. This is the place where the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated back in November of 1995 for his peace policies, of course.

Now, there have been many such peace rallies here in this very square just taking shape now. The rally is due to take place in an hour from now, but really what's interesting about this rally in contrast to similar such peace rallies in the past is that while it is mounted by the so-called peace camp, headed by the organization called Peace Now, it really doesn't bear the title of peace rally. I think you can see that from the slogan, which they're given to this rally here as the people start to come in here into the Rabin Square. They have them putting up those banners there; it does have that title called Peace Now, which is mounting this rally, a whole constellation of groups on the left wing of the Israeli political system.

But really, their main slogan is "to get out of the occupied territories for the sake of Israel," and I think that tells a lot about the nature of this rally and of the character of what the people in that so-called peace camp are about now, because they're less about belief in peace, that there's a possibility of peace taking shape at this time. A lot of people within Israel, even on this side of the political spectrum, simply don't believe that a peace, a full-blown peace is possible any time soon, with the Palestinian leadership under Yasser Arafat. But they do believe that it is in Israel's interest one way or another to get out of the West Bank, to get out of Gaza as soon as possible, and they seem to be trying to touch that nerve that is pretty prevalent in a large section of the Israeli bodypolitik (ph), not just on the left side of the spectrum but even in the middle, people who have supported the war on terror of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, but are looking for a political solution down the road. And what they say, perhaps, is maybe there's not room for peace at this stage, but there is room to one way, even unilaterally, to move to get out of most of the West Bank and of Gaza.

That's the nerve they're trying to touch here tonight at this peace rally. There haven't been such peace rallies all through the year and a half and more of the Palestinian uprising and certainly during this last bloodiest phase, that this is what they're hoping for for tonight, for at least 20,000, 30,000, perhaps 40,000 people to fill this Rabin Square. We'll wait and see how it evolves in the next hour as this rally gets under way. Back to you for now -- Jeanne.

MESERVE: Jerrold Kessel, we'll check in with you later in Tel Aviv.

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