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by Dina Rashed CHICAGO (IslamOnline) - For the second time in less than five days, more than one thousand Muslims, Arabs and American human rights activists rallied in downtown Chicago to protest the killings of civilian Palestinians in Israel, and the Occupied Territories.
Separated from the Israeli Consulate only by the Chicago River, the rally started in an open area next to the Chicago Tribune Tower and was clearly seen from the opaque dark brown windows of the building where the Israeli consulate lies. "We want to have the U.N. resolutions implemented as a first step," said Ghassan Barakat, coordinator of the demonstration and publisher of the Arab newspaper Al-Bustan, in an interview with IslamOnline. Barakat lost his nephew in Palestine during the recent events. "We ask President Clinton to stop the shameful acts in Palestine, since he appointed himself the guardian of peace in the world," he added. "Hey, hey, ho, ho, the occupation must go," and "Long Live Palestine," were chants echoed in the open area overlooking the Chicago River, the only thing separating the demonstrators from the Israeli consulate just across the river. Hatem Abudayyah, youth coordinator of the Arab American Action Network, said, "We have no problem with Jews, we respect everybody. "Our dilemma, our problem, is with the brutal Israeli aggression, Zionist aggression. We have great relationships with Jews who believe in the human rights, and we think the American public will stand by our side because it is a human rights issue," said Abudayyah. Like the first rally, men, children, toddlers in strollers pushed by parents, old Palestinian women dressed in traditional dresses, and Palestinian youth of various ages, from all over the Chicago suburbs, gathered together to demonstrate. Mahassen Abuhadbah, a homemaker Palestinian American, and a mother of three, said "As a Palestinian, as an Arab, and as a Muslim, we are always against bloodshed. We come here because we need to inform the American public who is kept in the dark about the facts. If the Israelis continue they will hurt everyone in the area, Arabs or Israelis." About 20 children made their own silent demonstration by lying on the ground like martyred Palestinian children with blood-like paint on their faces and white shirts. Next to them, a child's coffin lied wrapped in the Palestinian flag. Demonstrators placed red roses on their mock bullet-ridden bodies. The crowd was asked to give a silent tribute for those who gave their lives for their country. Following the Friday sermon (Jumuah), worshippers prayed the Martyr prayer and community leaders addressed the crowd. As a sign of unity and solidarity by Arabs and Palestinians of all faiths, Archbishop Dimitri Khouri, Archbishop of the Mid-West Arabs, came from Ohio to join the rally. "As an Arab American, I am outraged by the brutality of the Israeli forces against our people, and I am outraged by the insensitivity of the Israelis themselves towards the killings," Khouri said.
Community leaders spoke of the distorted images of Arabs and Palestinians in the U.S. media and the importance of Arab Americans to work to change the pro-Israeli discourse in newspaper editorials. Protestors then marched across the bridge to the Israeli Consulate, where more chants were heard and demonstrators burned the Israeli flag. Various organizations co-sponsored the event including the Coalition for Justice in Palestine, Arab American Action Network, Al-Awda-Chicago, the Arab American Institute, the Committee for a Democratic Palestine, the Islamic Association for Palestine, the Guild of Palestinian Writers and Journalists in North America, the Arab American Bar Association, Arab American Media Guild, Arab Community Center, Islamic Community Center of Illinois, Jordanian Solidarity Committee, Palestinian-American Women's Association, Muslim Bar Association, SANAD and various other groups. |
Muslims chanted three takbirat "Allah ho-akbar" (God is great) when he asked the masses to join him in a prayer for 12-year-old Muhammad Jamal Al-Durrah, whose death by the Israeli forces was caught on camera. 
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