Protesters condemn U.S.-Israeli policies in LA, San Francisco

ap on Riverside Press Enterprise ^ | 8/12/06 | Michael R. Blood - ap

[NormsRevenge]

LOS ANGELES

Several thousand protesters marched through California's two largest cities Saturday to condemn U.S. policy in the Middle East and appeal for an end to the bloodshed in Israel's war with Islamic militants in Lebanon.

"I hope that we will stop the aggression against Lebanon, the killing of innocent civilians," said Dina Tawamsy, 32, an engineer who was among over 1,000 people marching in downtown Los Angeles.

"I don't believe the kidnapping of two soldiers should lead to the destruction of the infrastructure of a whole country," she said, alluding to the fighting that began in Lebanon July 12 after Hezbollah militants kidnapped two Israeli military personnel.

Demonstrators pounded drums, chanted and waved an large Palestinian flag, held aloft by dozens of marchers. Two women, their faces covered in white theatrical paint, carried a gurney adorned with milk bottles and effigies of infant victims. Others waved signs that said, "Occupation is a crime," and "War is not the answer."

In San Francisco, as many as 2,000 people rallied. A few protesters climbed up onto bus stop shelters and waved Palestinian flags. Several hundred counter-demonstrators gathered nearby to show their support for Israel, waving American and Israeli flags.

The demonstrations were among a handful organized across the country, including near the White House, to criticize U.S. support for Israel and the violence in Lebanon.

They came a day after the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution that calls for an end to the war between Israel and Hezbollah, and authorizes 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers to help Lebanese troops take control of south Lebanon as Israel withdraws.

Michael Carr, 42, a marketing consultant from Los Angeles, said he turned out to deplore the ongoing destruction and death, not choose a side in the conflict.

"I'm protesting the killing of innocent people," Carr said.

Faulting the White House, he added: "I have a hard time with an administration that promotes a culture of life that seems limited to embryos and rich white people."

Dressed in a Muslim headscarf, Hana Sala, 16, a high school student from Irvine, was among a group of friends who said they worried about the safety of relatives in Syria. They echoed a familiar complaint by marchers that U.S. tax dollars were being used to support Israel and, in turn, its military campaigns.

"We are not supporting the U.S.," Sala said.

[NormsRevenge]

Has the world gone mad? You be the Judge.

Lebanese Australians march through the streets of Sydney, Australia, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2006 holding anti Israel banners and signs. More than 2000 people peacefully march through Sydney in protest to the Israel Lebanon conflict. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

[mgstarr]

I used to work next door to the Israeli consulate in LA. The Pali sympathizers were often protesting something there. Always enjoyed making a particular hand gesture as I left the parking garage.

[NormsRevenge]

Lebanese Australians march through the streets of Sydney, Australia, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2006 holding anti Israel banners and signs. More than 2000 people peacefully march through Sydney in protest to the Israel Lebanon conflict. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith)

[goldstategop]

Neutrality, huh? I'd like to see liberals be neutral about Bush for once! Why are they choosing sides with respect to the President? Hypocrites!

(Go Israel, Go! Slap 'Em Down Hezbullies.)

[Mr. Mojo]

Yeah, no one buys these leftists' "neutrality" BS. They're firmly and consistently on the side of whoever's at war with America. ....commies, Islamofascists, you name it.

[observer5]

"and wants to "stop the fighting on all sides."

This is so typical for the lefties that just can't understand there might be people out there that want to kill them...

[NormsRevenge]

Can't we have a ceasefire to all these idiotic displays by the left? They serve no purpose other than propaganda opportunities for those who organize them.

Without the protections afforded the protesters by western nations and the rights they are afforded by same, they would be living in theior native countries just like the Palis have been for so many years and serving as nothing more than puppets for those who seek to egg the situation on for their own purposes.

---

Your mama!

Your Imam!

Demonstrators exchange words during a march in Los Angeles, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2006. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced Saturday that a cease-fire in the Hezbollah-Israel fighting will take effect at 8 a.m. Lebanese time (1 a.m. EDT) Monday. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

[dhs12345]

This is why we have the new media -- to purge garbage like this.

I keep telling my wife -- the direction of world politics is changing. And I believe the drive to change originates from the new media.

This idiot wouldn't survive a second if she had to back up her statements with facts. Also, we are discussing what she said here.

There is hope... :)

[NormsRevenge]

A bit about the sponsors..

What is MAS?

The Muslim American Society (MAS) is a charitable, religious, social, cultural, and educational, not-for-profit organization. It is a pioneering Islamic organization, an Islamic revival, and reform movement that uplifts the individual, family, and society.

When and where it all started?

The Muslim American Society (MAS) traces its historical roots back to the call of the Prophet Muhammad ( Peace be upon him). Its more recent roots, however, can be traced to the Islamic revival movement which evolved at the turn of the twentieth century.

This movement brought the call of Islam to Muslims throughout the globe to reestablish Islam as a total way of life. The call and the spirit of the movement reached the shores of North America with arrival of Muslim students and immigrants in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

[NormsRevenge]

National Council of Arab Americans

What We Stand For                

The NCA aspires to be a unifying vehicle for the Arab-American community across all gender, racial, religious and socio-economic backgrounds, and aims to:

• Build, preserve and empower the Arab-American community as a political and cultural unit.
• Defend and expand the political and civil rights of the Arab-American community and all people.
• Join in leading the Arab-American community in participating in local and national political processes on grassroots and electoral levels.
• Confront all racist and hateful efforts, actions, and laws targeting Arab Americans in any form; and organize on all levels to end racism and discrimination against all, while working to form alliances with other communities, peoples and movements with mutual interests and aspirations for justice.
• Provide grassroots local community programs to serve the most affected in areas such as legal counseling, health care, and employment.

The NCA regards the constitutional rights of Arab Americans in the US, and of all people, as inviolable, and rejects any abrogation or minimization in part or in total of such rights . 

The NCA seeks to safeguard our position both as individuals and as a collective to struggle within constitutional means along with all others for a just nation that is at peace with itself and the world, free from notions of domination and inequality. To that end, the NCA also:

• The NCA supports full sovereignty of all Arab countries, and holds that colonial rule is the anti-thesis of a participatory people’s government, and hereby fully rejects the notion that military conquest can in any way produce democracy.
• Advocates for the immediate end to the occupation of Iraq, and the rights of the Iraqi people to full self-determination without any foreign intervention.
• Advocates for the immediate end to the colonial occupation of Palestine, the remaining portions of southern Lebanon and the Golan Heights; and reaffirms that Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination, and emphasizes our active refusal to normalize either with Zionists or with their institutions.
• Regards Palestine to be indivisible from the rest of the Arab Nation’s history, culture, identity, political struggle, and Pan-Arab future despite the passage of time; supports in full the inalienable full collective and individual Right of Return of the Palestinian people to their homes, property and homeland, and stands against any compromise on this right.
• Supports independent indigenous grassroots Arab democratic movements calling for transformation in Arab states that also fully preserve and secure the national and political integrity, self-determination, and collective rights of the Arab people.
• Supports popular pan-Arab initiatives that further the aspirations of the Arab people and their unity.
• Supports political, economic and social justice for all without any differentiation.

[NormsRevenge]

http://www.arab-american.net/contact/aboutus/board/body_board.html

The Board National Council of Arab Americans includes many members of A.N.S.W.E.R.

[NormsRevenge]

American-Arab Anti Discrimination Committee

http://www.adc.org/

Our Mission

THE AMERICAN-ARAB ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE (ADC) IS A CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATION COMMITTED TO DEFENDING THE RIGHTS OF PEOPLE OF ARAB DESCENT AND PROMOTING THEIR RICH CULTURAL HERITAGE.

ADC, which is non-sectarian & non-partisan, is the largest Arab-American grassroots organization in the United States. It was founded in 1980 by former U.S. Senator James Abourezk and has chapters nationwide.

ADC's Advisory Committee is made up of an impressive group of people that include: Muhammad Ali, Her Majesty Queen Noor, U.S. Congressmen John Conyers (D-MI), Darrell Issa (R-CA), & Nick Joe Rahall (D-WV), as well as the Honorable Paul Findley, Clovis Maksoud, Edward Said, Casey Kasem, Archbishop Philip Saliba and others.

[NormsRevenge]

A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
http://answer.pephost.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ANS_about_us

The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition formed on September 14, 2001. It is a coalition of hundreds of organizations and prominent individuals and scores of organizing centers in cities and towns across the country. Its national steering committee represents major national organizations that have campaigned against U.S. intervention in Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Asia, and organizations that have campaigned for civil rights and for social and economic justice for working and poor people inside the United States.

Steering Committee:
IFCO/Pastors for Peace
Free Palestine Alliance - U.S.
Haiti Support Network
Partnership for Civil Justice - LDEF
Nicaragua Network
Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines
Korea Truth Commission
Muslim Student Association - National
Kensington Welfare Rights Union
Mexico Solidarity Network
Party for Socialism and Liberation
Middle East Children's Alliance

[Free ThinkerNY]

If we were involved in a declared war with Iran, this Muslim would say, "We are not supporting the U.S." Too many Muslims living here would never side with us in a war with a Muslim country.

[rogue yam]

San Francisco rally thread with photos here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1682627/posts

FReeper SeenTheLight's S.F. after-action report thread here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1682616/posts

[Triggerhippie]

Michael Carr, 42, a marketing consultant from Los Angeles, said he turned out to deplore the ongoing destruction and death, not choose a side in the conflict.

"I'm protesting the killing of innocent people," Carr said.

In a related story, Peace in the Middle East has been achieved.

Arabs and Jews united today and vowed eternal peace for the region. When asked why they waited until today to reach this settlement, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert replied, "We've seen the light thanks to Michael Carr's protest."

Echoing Olmert's sentiments was Hezbollah's Secretary-General, Sheikh Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who added, "We don't know what took him so long. Quite frankly, had he protested earlier we would have never fired all those Katyushas."

[JillValentine]

I saw some pictures of this march some of those middle eastern women are babes.

Conservative women are hotter.

[NormsRevenge]

Thanks for that link, I just saw that thread, some great shots ..

Kudos to all those who brave the streets and urine soaked doorways of San FRancisco for FReedom and Support Our Troops and efforts to stem the tide of terrorism, even here on our own shores.

[Cobra64]

Didn't know they had a flag. Hizzbolah isn't a country.

[Texas_Jarhead]

Yup, they gotta flag.