Finland – While Israeli flags are being burned in many European capitals in the aftermath of the dead flotillaraid, thousands of people took part a pro-Israel rally in Helsinki on Thursday.
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The Finnish capital’s streets were filled with Israeli and Finnish flags as participants marched towards the port while chanting slogans in support of the IDF and waving banners protesting what they claimed was the biased media coverage of the flotilla raid.
The protestors also sang “Hevenu Shalom Aleichem (We Brought Peace Upon You)”.
zik Moyal, an Israeli who lives in Helsinki, estimated that more than 2,000 people took part in the rally. “Most of them are not even Jewish, they came here following a call by a pro-Israeli Christian organization, which coordinated the event with the Jewish community,” he told Ynet.
“Seeing this support brought a lot of joy, particularly in light of the local media’s blitz on Israel in the days that followed the incident at sea. The picture is beginning to balance out due to the photos of the weapons that were found on the (Gaza-bound) ship,” said Moyal.
The Jewish community in Finland numbers some 1,500, among them 200 Israelis.
Israeli Ambassador to Finland Avi Granot, who also took part in the rally, said the protestors “came here to say they believe in Israel and in its right to exist and protect itself from its enemies.”
“To see all the Israeli flags being waved and the thousands of people marching was very heart-warming,” he said.
Wow this is out of the blue…
What happend is there country smelling of to much curry?
Oh , such a beautiful sight and heart-strengthening. Boruch Hashem for this.
Havenu , Nokia .
I love israel. keep it up!!!
Wow! They are supposed to be a anti Jewish country.
This is so amazing that it seems unbelievable.
lets go out and support them with a FINLANDIA vodka
guess where my next overseas vacation will be?? it wont be France!!
new york should have over 2 million showing suppoe\rt for Israel..
The guy on the right looks really tall
i would like to thank all those that attended the Pr-Israeli rally…. You all should know that its greatly appreciated to see that ppl that arent even jewish giving the jewish ppl support…. i got goose bumps….
Of course this didn’t make the AP newswire. Only the Anti-Israel rallies in Turkey do.
Finland was attacked by Stalin. the alliance with Nazi Germany was an attempt to get back its territories the Russians annexed. Jewish refugees were also given refuge
“they have an agenda to promote the prophecy of the end of days”
And we Yiddn do not also “have an agenda to promote the prophecy of the end of days”? Have you never heard of the end of Golus and the coming of Moshiach?
Next time, please put your brain in gear before engaging your tongue.
Regarding #18 (Formally), it should be noted that Denmark also saved nearly its entire Jewish population just before Rosh Hoshanah, 1943. Nearly all of Denmark’s Jews were hidden, and taken by boats to Malmo, Sweden. After the war, many of them returned to their homes, which were maintained for them by their Danish neighbors, in their absence. In Copenhagen, there is a museum called the Resistance Museum, which documents heroic acts of the Danes against the Nazis. I had the opportunity to visit that museum in 1968.
Yay!! Go Finland!!! Most of my cell phones have been Nokia. Especially the 6230 (best cell phone ever made!).
Interestingly Finland also awarded a considerable amount of points to Israel in the Eurovision 2010 song contest. We all know that the song contest has political motivations.
Well done Finland!
G-d bless Finland. They protected ALL Jews during WWII and had many Jewish soldiers fighting with Germans. I read about one officer who turned down a German Iron Cross for fighting Soviets. They paid back the US all monies borrowed in Marshall Plan too. Very enlightened people. Hard life of Soviet heel makes them wary of non-democrats.