|
Thousands Gathering In Washington For Pro-Palestinian Demonstration
 |
|
Pro-Palestinian demonstators gathering in front of the White House to protest U.S. Mideast policy.
|
WASHINGTON, April 20 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters are just beginning to gather here Saturday to condemn what they see as the U.S. administration's pro-Israeli bent in the Mideast conflict.
Waving signs equating hardline Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and wearing traditional Arab headdresses, or keffiyahs, crowds are massing on the Ellipse in front of the White House to voice their disapproval of Israel and U.S. Middle East policy.
Police estimated there were between 25,000 and 30,000 protesters at the event so far. More are expected to join as the day progresses.
Tony Murphy, spokesman for International Answer, the group organizing the rally against war and racism commented, "This is the largest demonstration for Palestine in U.S. history," reports the Washington Post.
Iyad Hindi, 42, was in a group of some 400 who bussed in from Raleigh, North Carolina to participate in the event.
Hindi, who belongs to Raleigh's Muslim-American Society, said the crowd was in Washington "to tell the Israelis there should be no occupation" of Palestinian territories - and "as long as there is [occupation] there will be resistance."
The group's "other message is to the United States government to stop the clear bias towards Israel," he said.
Behind Hindi stood a young man with a Palestinian flag printed on his t-shirt, who carried a sign saying "Jenin = Auschwitz," equating the Palestinian refugee camp, where scores of Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army, with the infamous Nazi concentration camp, where more than one million Jews were slaughtered between 1942-1945.
Signs equating the Jewish Star of David with the Nazi swastika were waved along with signs stating that, "Sharon is a terrorist too," and that "Violence breeds violence."
Chants of "Free, Free Palestine," "Stop the Occupation Now" and "We are all Palestinians Today" echoed in Washington as the black, red, white and green flag of Palestine waved through its streets, reports the Post.
Over 100 buses brought people in from around the East Coast in the early morning.
"We would have brought more people, but it seemed every bus on East Coast was already reserved," said Steve Gillis, 43, a steelworker from Boston. "We saw hundreds of buses on the road. The rest stops were jammed all the way down," reported the Post.
Some families traveled from far to lend their support to the Palestinian cause and add their voices to the chorus for peace.
Jesmin Saikh, 15, came with a group of 200 from Gaithersburg, Maryland. She said she wears a headscarf at school, and "obviously disagree[s]" with her Jewish friends at school over events in the Middle East.
"But the thing that we share is that we know that both sides want peace," she said.
Ranks of police are milling around the crowd, some on foot and others on horseback, to ensure that the demonstration remains peaceful.
|
