Tens of thousands in SF

Muslim men pray while Reclaim the Streets dances a few feet away.

RTS blocks and intersection in the name of boogie down.

Part of the Queer contingent. LGBT's came out in force to demand a halt to the occupation.

Tens of thousands marched throughout the city and finally poured into the Civic Center in Downtown San Francisco. The march itself stretch for what probably was a couple of miles. There was no violence and very little arguments as people of all shapes and colors came out to demand justice for Palestine and to display their opposition to the Bush Administration's war machine.

It was absolutely, fucking, amazing!!!!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/04/20/state1828EDT0107.DTL

What do Edward Said and Robert fisk say about Arafat and the Palestinian Authority?<P>
<blockquote>“Why don’t we admit that he can neither lead, nor plan, nor take a single step that makes any
difference except to him and his Oslo cronies who have benefitted materially from their people’s
misery” Edward Said, New Left Review.</blockquote><P>
Robert Fisk:<P>
Fisk Interview, L.A> Weekly<P>
Ques: So does Arafat now, for his own cynical reasons, encourage or support the suicide
bombings inside Israel as the Israelis insist he does?<P>
Answer: Arafat is a very immoral person, or maybe very amoral. A very cynical man. I
remember when the Tal-al-Zaatar refugee camp in Beirut had to surrender to Christian forces in
the very brutal Lebanese civil war. They were given permission to surrender with a cease-fire.
But at the last moment, Arafat told his men to open fire on the Christian forces who were
coming to accept the surrender. I think Arafat wanted more Palestinian "martyrs" in order to
publicize the Palestinian position in the war. That was in 1976. Believe me that Arafat is not a
changed man. <P>
I think that if he ever actually sees a wounded child, he feels compassion like any other human
being. But he's also a very cynical politician. And he knows that Sharon was elected to offer
security to the Israelis. And Arafat knows that every suicide bombing, every killing, every death
of a young Israeli, especially inside Israel, is proof that Sharon's promises are discredited.<P>
On the one hand, he can condemn violence. He can be full of contrition. And in the basic human
sense, he probably means it. But he also knows very well that every suicide bombing hits at the
Sharon policy, and realizes how that helps him.

Like this makes any difference.

Their time would be better spent looking at their assholes in a mirror.

How does it feel demonstrating with antisemitics and anti-feminists like Hamas and Djihad?

>How does it feel demonstrating with antisemitics and anti-feminists like Hamas and Djihad?

I don't know. How does it feel siding with antisemitics and anti-feminists like George Bush?

think for yourself, don't trust idiots unless you want to become an idiot yourself,

anon

We wouldn't know. But if felt damn good to stand in solidarity against the USA/Israeli war beast with nuclear tipped horns in San Francisco yesterday. Fuck your oil dictatorship and Old Testament daydreams. You have come upon an enemy you cannot conquer, and it is time to call the ships home and make home a peaceful world, before the whole shithouse goes up in flames. Peace on Earth ~ Justice Not Vengeance ~ Food Not Bombs ~ A Salaam Alaikum ~ Shalom.

Well, unless you got there early you missed the
counter-demonstration. Small but spunky, it was.
Unfortunately, the very sight of an American flag was
apparently too much for many of the 'peace-lovers' in
attendance. So we were forced to beat a hasty retreat
once the main mass of the march got to Civic Center
and bum-rushed us on the steps of City Hall. Many
thanks to the SFPD for their professional and courteous
handling of the interaction.

May God bless the United States of America, our
President, George W. Bush, and the brave and
honorable men and women of our Armed Forces.

Amen.

Details and photos posted here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/670386/posts

"I want to tell you something very clear, don't worry about American pressure on Israel, we, the Jewish people control America, and the Americans know it." Ariel Sharon to Shimon Peres, October 3rd, 2001, as reported on Kol Yisrael radio.

All different kinds of people, all colors, races, religions, ages, backgrounds... Dancing together in the streets for peace! For one afternoon, we had a glimpse of the world we're all trying to create! Take this vision and hold it in your hearts, because we *can* make this beautiful world possible every day, in every place!

Many blessings...

Why is it that whenever I hear someone represent the so-called Palestinian side of this issue, they use inflamatory and FALSE language?

Kevin, please write speak accurately. Israel has not committed "massacres". Isn't this situation bad enough without utilizing false and inflamatory language? (You want to talk about massacres? Check out 2 million Christians killed in Sudan, 100,000 Kurds killed by Sadam ...).

Palestinians manufacturered and stored arms in civilian areas, particularly in Jenin. Israel went house-to-house whenever possible, sparing civilians and sparing damage. This was hard in Jenin because of ambushes and booby-traps. Ultimately, Israel was forced to bulldoze homes in Jenin.

Every drop of blood spilled in Jenin was due to the ongoing suicide bombings conducted by Hamas and Jihad and Arafats crews. Israel's response has been remarkably restrained.

Should there be a Palestinian state in West Bank and Gaza? Sure. But they need to demonstrate willingness to live side by side with Israel in peace. We came close two years ago. Now we are quite some distance, alas.

And with Palestinian "supporters" like Kevin actively inflaming hatred by teaching lies, Palestinians will remain without a state for a long time.

Art

amazing how the left in this country will stand along side groups that encourage murderers !

I would like to clarify something for those who consider the Pro-Palestinian demonstrators as anti-Semitic. The Arab peoples are also a Semitic race and Arabic is a Semitic language, so anti-Semitism also refers to hatred for the Arab peoples. In that sense, Zionists like Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu are anti-Semitic as they seek the systematic extermination of the Arab peoples. Send Sharon and Netanyahu to the Hague where they can be tried for the 44 years of accumulated war crimes they have commited. They can share a cell with Milosevic and swap atrocity stories. There will be no peace or justice as long as the Judeo-Nazis are in charge of Israel. When you create a Palestinian Holocaust, I don't want to hear any more Jewish whining about the German-led Holocaust. The Jews have now lost their moral credibility in the face of 44 years of land theft and Palestininan oppression and humiliation. Give the land back that you stole? The Israelite tribes originally stole the land in the first place by sytematically exterminating the Canaanites in 1100 BC. This land theft goes back far beyond 1947. No Negotiations! Give back what you took by violence in the first place!

I would like to clarify something for those who consider the Pro-Palestinian demonstrators as anti-Semitic. The Arab peoples are also a Semitic race and Arabic is a Semitic language, so anti-Semitism also refers to hatred for the Arab peoples. In that sense, Zionists like Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu are anti-Semitic as they seek the systematic extermination of the Arab peoples. Send Sharon and Netanyahu to the Hague where they can be tried for the 44 years of accumulated war crimes they have commited. They can share a cell with Milosevic and swap atrocity stories. There will be no peace or justice as long as the Judeo-Nazis are in charge of Israel. When you create a Palestinian Holocaust, I don't want to hear any more Jewish whining about the German-led Holocaust. The Jews have now lost their moral credibility in the face of 44 years of land theft and Palestininan oppression and humiliation. Give the land back that you stole? The Israelite tribes originally stole the land in the first place by sytematically exterminating the Canaanites in 1100 BC. This land theft goes back far beyond 1947. No Negotiations! Give back what you took by violence in the first place!

So where are all the human-rights do-gooders when the Palestinians are holding military trials and summary executions? Need we ask? They're busy, as always, denouncing Israel. First they accused the Jewish state of conducting a "massacre" in Jenin. Trouble is, even Palestinian terrorists now effectively admit that charge was phony. Tabaat Mardawi, a captured Islamic Jihad member, tells CNN: "By my own standard, what happened there was a massacre. But if you are asking, 'Did I see tens of people killed?' Frankly, no. In my group, we were in an area with no other people. Three fighters with me were killed. Later when we started to move from place to place, we saw destroyed houses and could smell bodies."

http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/04/22/jenin.fighter/index.html


The New York Post's John Podhoretz notes that the charge has now shifted:

"Now it's that the Israelis have violated international law relating to war. According to the BBC on Thursday, 'International officials say some actions by [Israel's] troops, there and elsewhere, would appear to have breached the Fourth Geneva Convention relating to the protection of civilians in war or under occupation.' . . .

The simple truth is this: International law relating to the conduct of the incursion exculpates the Israelis and convicts the Palestinian Authority. Period. . . .

The Palestinian intifada describes itself as an armed struggle, an uprising. The word that describes the leaders and planners of such an armed struggle, in legal parlance, is 'combatants.'

And international law could not be any more plain. On June 8, 1977, the Fourth Geneva Convention was updated. . . . Article 37 outlaws the use of civilian populations as a shield for military actions. It explicitly prohibits 'the feigning of civilian, noncombatant status; and the feigning of protected status by the use of signs, emblems or uniforms of the United Nations or of neutral or other States not Parties to the conflict.'

What the leaders of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Hamas and Islamic Jihad do is hide among civilian populations to make it as difficult as possible for their enemies to attack them. The Geneva Convention denounces this as 'perfidy.'"

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/46174.htm


Why do Western institutions that are charged with upholding standards of civilized behavior hold the Palestinians to such a low standard and the Israelis to an impossible one? Mick Hume offers this perceptive explanation in a Times of London essay:

"In the eyes of many today, Israel's crime is to be the most forceful expression of Western values. The Israeli state is seen as a beachhead of Western civilisation in a hostile world. That used to be its greatest asset. Today, however, Western civilisation has fallen into disrepute even within its own heartlands, and Israel's image has suffered accordingly.

Israel has never been able to accept completely such trends as political correctness, relativism and self-doubt. If it did so, the Israeli state would be finished. Today, however, Israel's unambiguous attitude of 'we're right and you're wrong', and defence of national sovereignty against the intrusions of international bodies, are embarrassing reminders of the kind of conviction that Western elites no longer feel able to express."

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,482-275325,00.html


Ffutal

The Israelis have signed their own death warrant by the persistent crimes. What happened to Hitler will happen to Sharon, and sooner or later there will be no more Israel to plague the earth. Even superpowers are not exempt from the justice of Providence. What happened to Greece, Rome, Napoleon's France, and Nazi Germany will happen to the US. Every superpower has its day and its night.

This is not wishful thinking - read your history and draw your own common-sense conclusions!

How nice...another educated person who has missed the boat. May I suggest that you take your lilly-white over to this geographic area (as your tax dollars have done for me) and get educated. After 24-plus years of military service...(and, yep, at one time in my life, I WAS a Vietnam protester)...I have opened my eyes to the need for national security. (Our national security) By the way, did you not view the note left us by a couple of sub standard flight school students on 9-11? My God, man, read a book, travel, see the places you are forming opinions about, and stop being so impressed with yourself. It ain't what you think, Bro. Chuck Mineo, US Air Force and US Army veteran. (And no, I'm not brainwashed..the best news came from Radio Moscow and the BBC when I participated in the Gulf War.)

was just hidden because it was racist propaganda. racist propaganda is not allowed here. Take it somewhere else.

Why do you loons yell that Israel needs to perfect itself, but you\'re ok with Israel\'s neighbors continuing to be horrible?

In 20th century Europe, people told the Jews to, \"Get out and go to Palestine!\"

Today, many peole tell the Jews to, \"Get out of Palestine and go to Elsewhere!\"

For 1,500 years Jews lived as dogs in the middle east. Jews finally rise up and form their own SMALL little state, and their neighbors respond by kicking the Jews out of their countries (blaming all Jews even if they had nothing to do with anything) and trying to kill Israel.

Stop unfairly singling zionists out. Zionism was to make a safe home for Jews when they VERY BADLY needed one. Israel\'s goal is to exist. Stop singling Jews out for trying to make sure they can still exist. You nutcases out there who criticize Israel should go try living with the enemy of Israel - hamas, hezzbollah, islamic jihad and all the other nutcases.

Is there any reason you single Israel out for giving special treatment to Jews, but you don\'t single Palestine out for not allowing any Jews at all? And you don\'t single Iraq out for what they did to their Jewish
population? And Syria, and Lebanon, and Iraq? Is there a reason why you are ok with discrimination against Jews that has taken place in almost every
middle east country, but you are not ok with Israel giving special treatement to Jews?

Why do you single Jews out for trying to their little state, but you don\'t apply equal criticism to states that have been MUCH worse in their fairness?

Don\'t pretend that it\'s not about \"jews\" and only about \"zionists.\" You are singling zionists out for not being perfect while trying to protect their own people, while you do not place equal attention on other people who do much worse stuff. WHy not just admit that you have agendas beyond what you claim?

Stop lying about zionism. Focus on people who are really doing bad things, not \"the Jews,\" not \"the zionists,\" not any one entire group of people.

Had the Palestinians cared more about their own state than about killing Israel, a state of Palestine woudl have existed already. Don\'t blame Israel beacuse Palestinian leadership for decades cared more about destroying Israel than focusing on their own people. There was nothing stopping arabs from making Palestine a state from 1948 to 1967, except arabs just kept trying to kill Israel. Had they left Israel alone, they\'d have had yet another arab state.

When moderate Palestians have suffered all this time, it\'s because their leaders have been extremists who focused on destruction rather than being a neighbor.
..........