Violence flares briefly at anti-terrorism event

[drdon326]

Violence flares briefly at anti-terrorism event
Police keep order as Mideast turmoil sparks altercation


A Berkeley rally against terrorism that featured a bombed Israeli bus turned briefly violent Sunday when angry counter demonstrators carrying Palestinian flags marched into the mostly pro-Israel crowd.

Riot police quickly separated combatants, some of whom came to blows, during the afternoon event organized by the Israeli Action Committee of the East Bay. Police cited one man on a charge of misdemeanor battery.

"Emotions were high, but overall, aside from verbal confrontations and one physical altercation, the event went relatively smoothly,'' said police Sgt. Joe Okies.

More than 500 people, mostly Jews from throughout the Bay Area, gathered in Martin Luther King Jr. Park to hear speakers denounce terrorism. A similar rally featuring the bus is scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. today in San Francisco's Civic Center Park.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/01/17/BAGNJARBL11.DTL

[Coastie for Truth]

1. The crowd was not exactly a

Crown Heights or Boro Park "JDL Kahane" crowd. The pro-Israel people were mostly Lefties and peaceniks (Berkeley and San Francisco).

The JDL country is in Los Angeles.

So, don't blame the violence on "Peace Now" or "Another Voice for Peace".

[IndianaGreen]

2. Let's take a look at the sponsors of the rally... Jerusalem Connection

Bus 19 was destroyed in Jerusalem last year in a suicide bombing that killed 11 people and injured 45. It is owned by Jerusalem Connection International, which argues that God gave Israel solely to the Jews.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/01/17/BAGNJARBL11.DTL

It was the United Nations that established land for the Jews in Palestine!

Just as we condemn the religous zealots in our country that want to oppress gays and keep women barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen, we should also condemn any group that uses the mythology of the Bible to justify its political actions.

And shame on the Jerusalem Connection International for exploiting the blood of innocents to promote their vulgar and obscene biblical views! They are no different from those American politicians that used 9/11 as an excuse to take our civil liberties away and invade Iraq.

Fundamentalism of any flavor is a threat to liberty and justice everywhere!

[drdon326]

3. Indy.....check it out....

http://underscorebleach.net/content/misc/zombie/bus_19_berkeley/


fascinating pictures.

[IndianaGreen]

4. Hmmm... very ugly!

Not quite what was originally reported by the San Francisco Chronicle. I also found Barbara Lubin's statement to smack of appeasement considering the openly racist behaviour of some of the counter demonstrators:

Rally organizers said the provocative actions of some counter- demonstrators illustrated that they support the use of terrorism.

"They attempted to disrupt the rally through the same kinds of intimidation and indiscriminate violence that are the hallmarks of our 21st century scourge, global terrorism,'' said David Meir-Levi, an insurance agent from Menlo Park who acted as the master of ceremonies for the anti-terrorism rally.

Organizers of the counterdemonstration had asked that participants not directly interact with the anti-terrorism rally.

Barbara Lubin, executive director of Berkeley's Middle East Children's Alliance, one of a coalition of local organizations critical of Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, said she didn't think "much is gained by shouting across the street.''

Most counterdemonstrators quietly carried signs, many with faces of slain Palestinian children.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/01/17/BAGNJARBL11.DTL

[IndianaGreen]

5. Unfortunately, PNAC raises its ugly head by quoting Richard Perle

There were many other speakers as well, including Jim Hutchens, the President and founder of the Jerusalem Connection. Click here (or on the picture above) to hear Jim Hutchens read an important quote from the book An End to Evil (QuickTime, 5.4mb). Here's a transcription of the clip:

Jim Hutchens: A fairly newly released book by David Frum and Richard Perle, and it reminds us of what we have to do, in light of what's taken place here, and what's taking place throughout the world, and what could happen here, as well. "For us, terrorism remains the great evil of our time, and the war against this evil our generation's great cause. We do not believe that Americans are fighting this evil to minimize it, or to manage it. We believe that we are fighting to win, to end this evil before it kills again on a genocidal scale. There is no middle way for Americans: it is victory, or it is holocaust." And that's from the book An End to Evil: How to Win the War on Terror, by David Frum and Richard Perle.

http://underscorebleach.net/content/misc/zombie/bus_19_berkeley/bus_and_speakers/

While this does not excuse the anti-Semitism displayed by some counter demonstrators, it also illustrates the strange relationship that Israel has with people that are clearly Fascists.

[drdon326]

6. Then you'll really love this.....

http://www.zombietime.com/bus_19_berkeley/

[Paleocon]

7. I loved it...

How do you always come up with such unbiased sources?

:yourock:

[Scurrilous]

8. 'How do you always come up with such unbiased sources?'

Simple. Go here:

http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/

The website he links belongs to an LGFer named 'zombie.'

BTW don, I misssed the final results of LGF's 'idiotarian of the year' awards. How did DU do? Last time I checked we were in 5th place.

[Paleocon]

9. 5th place! We can do better than that!

They hold us in such high esteem! No wonder Don goes there for his source material!

:thumbsup:

[Englander]

11. Is there such thing as a "self-hating liberal"?

n/t

[Darranar]

10. "Leftists lie, children die"...

Nice unbiased source, drdon.