Protesters outnumber Neo-Nazis at own rally

VALLEY FORGE, Pa. -- About 100 white supremacists rallied at Valley Forge National Historical Park on Saturday as nearly twice as many opponents heckled them from a hillside. Both groups were outnumbered by federal law enforcement officers. The National Park Service said no arrests were made at the rally site, but one person was arrested after a scuffle in a parking lot.

Neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members shouted slogans from a stage at the park, where about 11,000 Revolutionary War soldiers commanded by George Washington camped from December 1777 to June 1778.

The Minnesota-based National Socialist Movement, which sponsored the rally, claims Washington held separatist and anti-Semitic views, a position disputed by most historians.

The event was held on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. Rally organizers have said they were unaware of the holiday when they planned the event.

Other s>Speakers criticized America's role in the Iraq war, calling it "Israel's War."

Noah Osner, 25, said he joined the counterprotest to show there are people willing to stand up against racism.

The neo-Nazis spoke against immigration laws, the Patriot Act, and the war in Iraq, calling it Israel's war. They bashed President Bush for having Mexican American relatives and John Kerry for his association with the Heinz company, which sells kosher products.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/9763877.htm

Standing nearby, a neo-Nazi sympathizer, Joe Fuerneisen, 30, a construction worker from Franklinville, Gloucester County, liked most of what he saw.

"I agree with a lot of what they have to say, but the hoods bother me," he said. "If you believe in what you're saying, why do you have to wear hoods?"

Charles J. Juba, the National Director of Aryan Nations from Leola, Pa., center, is flanked by Josh Webster of Center Point, Ala., left, and Barbara Marie Kreis, 10, from Sebring, Fla., right, during a neo-Nazi Rally on the amphitheater stage at Valley Forge National Historic Park, in Valley Forge, Pa., Saturday, Sept. 25, 2004

Members of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan participate in a neo-Nazi rally on the amphitheater stage at Valley Forge National Historic Park, in Valley Forge, Pa., Saturday, Sept. 25, 2004. To the far right is Bradley Jenkins from Thorsby, Ala

A group who identified themselves as the 'Black Panthers' walk past law enforcement officers after arriving too late to protest the National Socialist Movement rally at Valley Forge National Park near Philadelphia, September 25, 2004. Police made four arrests against rally protestor

Members of 'Skinheads and Punks against racism' hold a banner in protest of the National Socialist Movements' rally at Valley Forge National Park near Philadelphia, September 25, 2004. Police made four arrests against rally protesto

skin head is photographed while doing a Nazi salute and holding a Nazi flag during a rally at the Valley Forge National Park near Philadelphia

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