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Protesting an Anti-Terror Rally? Only in Berkeley

Jan 19, 2005 8:36 am By Robert Spencer

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Children repeating anti-Semitic blood libels

From Cinnamon Stillwell and Lee Kaplan in FrontPage:

Held on Sunday, January 16, at Berkeley”s Martin Luther King Jr. Park, the Rally Against Global Terrorism almost never took place. The city of Berkeley constantly stalled on a permit until the organizers were interviewed on KNEW conservative talk radio host Jeff Katz’s talk show. What followed was enough public outrage that a flurry of emails to City Hall got the permit granted the very next day. Katz became one of the keynote speakers that day giving a rousing call to define terrorism for what it really is: a crime against humanity and not something to be regarded as justified in any way.

As centerpiece for the rally and to bring the reality of terrorism closer to home, the wreckage of Jerusalem Bus #19, destroyed last year in a suicide bombing that killed 11 and wounded 45 passengers, was on display to show the horrors of terrorism up close. The back of the bus was completely blown away along with parts of the front roof. The interior of the bus was all burned and made any sensitive viewer understand the agony of those inside the bus that fateful day the attack occurred.

“Most of those passengers were simply people going to or from work,” Katz told the sympathetic crowd. A large portable mural displayed photos of many of those killed in over 50 suicide bombing attacks on buses in Israel.

700 people attended the rally to protest terrorism worldwide and listen to a diverse group of speakers representing different religious, ethnic, and political points of view. This was an event for Muslims, Jews, Arabs, Hindus, Christians and others who all joined that day to oppose terrorism worldwide. Even some of Berkeley”s homeless joined in. A large portable mural displayed photos of many of those killed in terrorist attacks.

Unfortunately, the day was marred by the bellicose presence of protesters against the bus”s presence in Berkeley because it shows the world the damage that can be done by a suicide bomber. Word got out quickly and even before the rally officially began at noon, a crowd of 300 pro-Palestinian and radical communist and anarchist groups such as International Answer and the International Socialist Organization showed up determined to disrupt the event. They gathered across the street to express their outrage that Jews, Christians, and other supporters of Israel and America had dared to gather and speak out against terrorism.

Groups such as the Justice in Palestine Coalition, Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA), East Bay Peace Action, United for Peace and Justice, and the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) were present. Paul La Rudee, the leader of Norcal ISM who once wrote about his experiences sleeping in the bed of a suicide bomber , was also present as a leader. As evidence of just where the sympathies of Berkeley”s political establishment lay, Berkeley City Councilman Max Anderson was also part of the crowd.

Around 40 pro-Palestinian college students, the women wearing hijabs and the men sporting Arafat-style black and white checkered keffiyehs (in some cases covering their whole faces, terrorist-style), waved Palestinian flags and used bullhorns to chant “Down with Israel!” and ” Down with the U.S.A!.” They yelled “Free Palestine!” in an attempt to drown out the anti-terrorism speakers on the platform.

Members of San Francisco State University”s General Union of Palestinian Students and UC Berkeley”s Muslim Student Association also joined their ranks and became the most vocal and rowdy of the bunch. They unraveled a large banner reading “United States and Israel: Terrorists Against Humanity.”

One has to wonder at the logic of people who would protest a protest against world terrorism in the name of “humanity.” The demonstrators even brought small children who stood alongside them, shouting slogans and imitating their behavior….

Once on the other side of the street, the remaining police officers parted ways and allowed the unruly mob to disrupt the anti-terror rally. Screaming “Allahu Akbar!” and pushing their way through the crowd, the pro-Palestinian protesters appeared as menacing as a similar crowd in the Middle East. But still the police did nothing to stop them. Some members of the anti-terror rally shouted at the police officers, “Why aren’t you doing anything?” or “Why don’t you stop them?” The police officers ignored them as some of the pro-Palestinian demonstrators chanted their desire to be “martyrs.”

Read it all.

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