Yourish.com comments: No flames, please.
And just when you would think this couldn't get much worse.
"Also on Friday, consular representatives of the government of Israel in the Bay Area announced that they would boycott the rallies against global terrorism that have been planned by a coalition of Jews and non-Jews that are scheduled for January 16th and January 17th, in Berkeley and in San Fran respectively. The Israeli consulate has informed that it will not even send a delegate to attend the event.
[ . . . ]
One of the Jewish community organization leaders, Rabbi Stuart Kelman, echoing the concerns of the Israeli consulate in the Bay area, wrote an open letter to the Jewish community urging that it boycott the event, stating that "Given the recent death of Arafat, there seems to be a window for a change of climate", and "encouraged" people to stay away from the event."
Via IMRA
Meryl,
You meant the Berkeley police, of course. It's across the Bay from SF, an entirely different jurisdiction.
Similar mindset, though.
Stu Kelman is a good guy, but that is a side note.
I want to know if anyone tried to stop these idiots from chanting, or if their silence was agreement with their position.
Someone has video:
Classical Values
It's a big .avi file. The scene is about 99.9% yelling by one demonstrator.
No fair! All these pro-terrorist-testers in my backyard and I missed all the fun! A mere half-hour's drive and I could have given a live report on the Berzerkeley Circus. I gotta find out about this stuff in advance for next time.
Somebody who attended Berkeley referred to the place as the "epicenter of hatred," and it sounds like they weren't far wrong.
I was there. The pro-terror demonstrators were supposed to have a silent vigil for the Palestinian children killed.
But a group of about 40 Palestinians (including a few children ages 5 to 10) loudly yelled at us. Near the end of the rally they marched across the street, waved their Palestinian flags and shouted anti-Israeli slogans as they passed Bus 19, and tried to disrupt the rally.
You can find photos of the rally at protestwarrior.com under the command and control forum.
The pro-terror protestors carried signs that included messages that accused Israelis of "stealing organs", of attempting to rid the land of Arabs, and that equated Bush and Sharon with Hitler.
There were also calls for Israel's destruction. I overheard one protestor say that she considered the anti-terror participants to be "Jewish klansmen". All this in the shadow of Bus 19.
Another participant told me that she believes that Israelis deliberately shoot at women and children and that Rachel Corrie's death was no accident. When I asked her why Israel would deliberately kill civilians she had no answer. She also didn't believe that there are weapons tunnels under Palestinian homes.
Fixed it, Scott. Thanks.
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