Gaza "Freedom" Marchers and Alice Walker

More on the Freedom Marchers themselves (clever title, that - reminding us of the people who went to the southern U.S. to work for equal rights for African Americans - which did not, of course, entail working with terrorist groups!), from the Egyptian authorities, who seem to regard them as a major nuisance.

The Egyptian foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, expressed frustration at the activists who came to Cairo despite the warning that the border was closed. “Those who tried to conspire against us, and they are more than a thousand, we will leave them in the street,” he said.

One of the Code Pinkers, Alice Walker, seems to have a very peculiar idea of how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict began. She writes in her blog:

And so I have been, once again, struggling to speak about an atrocity: This time in Gaza, this time against the Palestinian people. Like most people on the planet I have been aware of the Palestinian–Israeli conflict almost my whole life. I was four years old in 1948 when, after being subjected to unspeakable cruelty by the Germans, after a “holocaust” so many future disasters would resemble, thousands of European Jews were resettled in Palestine. They settled in a land that belonged to people already living there, which did not seem to bother the British who, as in India, had occupied Palestine and then, on leaving it, helped put in place a partitioning of the land they thought would work fine for the people, strangers, Palestinians and European Jews, now forced to live together.

Why does she put the word Holocaust in quotes? Wasn't it one? And is the only important thing about the Holocaust that it led to Holocaust survivors settling in Palestine? Like many other anti-Israel activists, she has the mistaken notion that the Jews who went to Palestine were only from Europe. What of the hundreds of thousands of Jews from Arab and Muslim who emigrated to Israel? Her statement about the role of the British is also entirely incorrect. The British were not in favor of the UN partition plan - they abstained during the vote on November 29, 1947. They did nothing to implement it once the UN approved it.

She also seems to consider Israel unredeemable, despite all of her talk about reconciliation:

There are differing opinions about this, of course, but my belief is that when a country primarily instills fear in the minds and hearts of the people of the world, it is no longer useful in joining the dialogue we need for saving the planet.

She also thinks that the people of Gaza have been subjected to genocide:

This is a chilling use of power, supported by the United States of America, no small foe, if one stands up to it. No wonder that most people prefer to look the other way during this genocide, hoping their disagreement with Israeli policies will not be noted.

She argues for a one-state solution without any concern at all for the lives of Israeli Jews:

What is to be done? Our revered Tolstoy asked this question, speaking also of War and Peace. I believe there must be a one state solution. Palestinians and Jews, who have lived together in peace in the past, must work together to make this a reality once again. This land (so soaked in Jewish and Palestinian blood, and with America’s taxpayer dollars wasted on violence the majority of us would never, if we knew, support) must become, like South Africa, the secure and peaceful home of everyone who lives there. This will require that Palestinians, like Jews, have the right of return to their homes and their lands. Which will mean what Israelis most fear: Jews will be outnumbered and, instead of a Jewish state, there will be a Jewish, Muslim, Christian country, which is how Palestine functioned before the Europeans arrived. What is so awful about that?

Does she know anything about Ottoman rule of Palestine? It was rule by a Muslim empire which favored Muslims over Christians or Jews. In saying this I'm not arguing that it was an evil empire - but that its rulers had their own interests and beliefs, among them that Islam was superior to other religions and that the "peoples of the book" should be tolerated but treated as second-class citizens. The Ottoman Empire began to treat its religious minorities better throughout the 19th century, with the reform movement known as the Tanzimat, but it certainly was not a model of religious equality. And this is even without considering the Armenian Genocide, which was wrought by the Ottoman government in its dying days during WWI. Walker's idea of Palestine before British rule seems to be governed by a gauzy nostalgia for an imagined past. Perhaps she should consult a variety of histories of Palestine, not simply those written by Ali Abunimah and others who argue for the one-state solution.

It also seems that she is taking a kind of unholy glee in the thought that Jews will once again be a minority in Palestine, as if this is really the correct state of affairs. Jews should know their place, which is not to be able to wield power by controlling their own independent state.

And to think I once admired Alice Walker!

Hamas on Jerusalem: Fate of the city to be decided by war

Rioting in Jerusalem has resumed today, and Hamas leader Khaled Mashall says the fate of the city will not be decided upon by negotiations, but by war. He claims that the Israelis want to demolish the Al Aqsa mosque and replace it with the Temple.

Following a day of clashes between security forces and Arab rioters in Jerusalem, Damascus-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal on Sunday evening stated that the fate of the capital would be determined by force, not negotiations.

"The fate of Jerusalem will be determined only by confrontation and not by the negotiating tables," Mashaal said in a speech, according to Channel 10. "The Israelis want to divide al-Aqsa Mosque, and this is not all. They want to hold their religious ceremonies in the mosque … in preparation for demolishing it and building their temple there," he reportedly said. Israel is interested in handling the Jerusalem issue unilaterally so that it is not included in negotiations with the Palestinians, Masha'al claimed.

"Jerusalem is all of Jerusalem, not only [the east Jerusalem neighborhood of] Abu-Dis. The Arabs and Muslims are [the city's] residents, and the Zionists have no claim over it," he said.

"I call for angry protests in Palestine and in the Arab world. Today, protests began in [the] Gaza [Strip], and we hope they will spread to the West Bank. It is important for there to be a united Palestinian position. We must send a message to the world: In light of the settlements and actions in Jerusalem, there are no negotiations and we must rethink our steps," the Hamas leader concluded.

It's clear, of course, from this story, that Masha'al does not think Jews have any claim to Jerusalem, even the right to live in it. (We should not be fooled by his use of the word "Zionists" - he means Jews).

The Ma'an News Agency (Palestinian) offers a different translation of Masha'al's words:

Bethlehem – Ma'an – Hamas’ top political official, Khalid Mash'al, warned that Israel could attempt to divide the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem in a televised news conference from Damascus on Sunday evening.

"It was the first time Israeli army locked the gates of the mosque with chains, barring the call to prayer, breaking into its yards for long periods of time," Mash’al said in remarks denouncing an Israeli police raid early on Sunday that sparked a day of demonstrations." These acts are intended to divide Al-Aqsa and force their [Jews’] religious rituals on it," he added.

Mash’al may have been alluding to the division of the Ibrahimi Mosque in the West Bank city of Hebron, half of which is controlled by Israeli settlers.

Mash’al also struck a chord of Muslim-Christian solidarity in his address. He said that among those who holed themselves up inside the Mosque on Sunday in response to the Israeli intrusion were Palestinians from inside Israel and Christians. "Jerusalem for us, as Palestinians, is all of Jerusalem with all of its land, residents and its Islamic symbols … the Jews have no right to it," he also said.

"Jerusalem’s fate will not be decided in negotiations but in the balance of confrontation and resistance," he added.

For an archive of stories about the rioting in Jerusalem this fall, see my wiki on Jerusalem: Clashes on Temple Mount.

Hamas shows its true colors again - Holocaust denial and hatred of Jews

Hamas, the Holocaust-denying Islamist terrorist organization that runs Gaza, slams UN over "Holocaust classes" in Gaza.

Branding the Nazi genocide of the Jews "a lie invented by the Zionists", the Islamist movement which runs the Gaza Strip wrote in an open letter to a senior U.N. official that he should withdraw plans for a new history book in U.N. schools....Hamas said it believed UNRWA was about to start using a text for 13-year-olds that included a chapter on the Holocaust. In an open letter to local UNRWA chief John Ging, the movement's Popular Committees for Refugees said: "We refuse to let our children study a lie invented by the Zionists."

Of course, the UNRWA schools currently do not teach anything about the Holocaust, and when asked if there were any plans to change that, the UNRWA spokesmen refused to answer.

UPDATE: Apparently, contrary to the article quoted above, UNRWA does have a new human rights curriculum for eighth graders that teaches the basic facts of the Holocaust.

Three teachers at U.N. schools said that according to the new program, basic information about the Holocaust was expected to be taught to eighth grade students as part of human rights classes.

Two of the teachers said they were told about the lesson plan by colleagues involved in the new syllabus. Another teacher said he attended a recent meeting with education officials where he was told to try to teach the new syllabus without offending parents' sensibilities.

All three said they had not received the syllabus for the human rights classes yet, even though the school year began in late August. They requested anonymity because they are not allowed to speak to reporters.

Israel Declares Cease Fire

Israel Declares Cease Fire - this is certainly welcome, but what does it mean? If there's no agreement between Hamas and Israel for a truce, then how can Israel's declaring that it will stop attacking result in anything except a temporary respite? Hamas doesn't have any reason to stop firing rockets if they haven't made an agreement with Israel to stop doing so. Or does this mean that Israel will remain in parts of Gaza? I'm confused.

Haaretz editorial on the ceasefire - "A cease-fire, albeit a unilateral one, is a necessary condition, though it is certainly insufficient for a stable, long-term arrangement in Gaza. It would behoove the government not to flinch from its decision to end Operation Cast Lead immediately and act to change relations with the Palestinians. After the hard blows Israel has inflicted, the time has come to aid the Palestinian population in both the West Bank and Gaza, and to work toward an agreement with the moderate leadership."

Genocide in Gaza?

Terry Glavin, in his essay "The Debasement of Language: 'Israeli Genocide,'" succinctly discusses the use of language equating Jews with Nazis and accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. This is relevant to a conversation I just overheard today.

I went to a local cafe this morning for a nice cup of coffee and to read a heavy tome on Angelomorphic Christology (for an article I should be writing on "Divine Beings"), and was sitting and sipping the coffee when I heard a couple of people at another table discussing the Gaza War. One of them started going on about Israeli genocide in Gaza - how Israel had already killed over 500 Palestinians and that this was genocide. Only my desire not to make a scene in public prevented me from going over to them and asking them what did they really think genocide was? And to add the comment that if the Israelis really wanted to commit genocide in Gaza, they were doing a really poor job at it. And that if the Israelis needed any models for how to go about it, they should consult the Syrians, who killed between ten and twenty thousand people in Hama, or perhaps Saddam Hussein and "Chemical Ali" for their Anfal campaign against the Kurds.

None of this should be construed, however, for support of Israeli bombing and killing of civilians - I am still deeply ambivalent about the Israeli assault on Gaza, at this time leaning towards being against; this is why I keep posting about demonstrations against the attacks in Gaza, in the hope that maybe I'll find one I might actually want to attend, were I to be present in the relevant location at the right time.

Unfortunately, while there has been a local demonstration against the Gaza War, I didn't see that I could support it, even though I agreed in part with the organizers' statement. It calls for, among other things, a complete halt to American military aid to Israel, which I do not support. It also very much dismisses the impact of the constant rocket attacks on Sderot and other Israeli towns near Gaza. While I think that one could argue that the Israeli response to those attacks is wrong and counterproductive, it is also incorrect to dismiss the suffering that the residents of Sderot have endured, even if the magnitude is much less than that endured by the people of Gaza.

I would ask the organizers of the demonstration to consider how they would feel if Ithaca had received rocket fire from nearby towns for several years - I think that they would not be inclined to dismiss the ill effects upon us even if only a few people were killed. The statement that "The airstrikes, which stoke the Palestinians' anger and desire for revenge, in no way contribute the security of Israelis," could equally well be turned upon Hamas - rockets upon Israelis also stoke their anger and desire for revenge, and do not contribute to the security of Gazans. There is no acknowledgement of any responsibility of Hamas for this horrible situation. I would prefer to see signs denouncing Hamas along with those denouncing Israel.

Update, a little later - I'm listening to the evening news show on Israel channel 1, Mabat, which is going back and forth between the anchors in the studio and reporters in Sderot and Ashkelon. As they were talking to the reporter in Ashkelon, the air raid sirens came on - warning of incoming rockets from Gaza, and they're now talking about the rockets that just landed. Mabat is a live news show, so this just happened - it's very scary to listen to, I can just imagine being there.

Israeli demonstrations against the Gaza War

Update. Peace Now is also calling for an immediate halt to the bombing and finding a political solution.

Gush Shalom is organizing a rally for tomorrow. A statement of demands:

The killing in Gaza continues. Hundreds have been killed, thousands injured, air-strikes have caused utter devastation and entire families are left homeless.

Civilians in the south of Israel are being held captive by a government which lies to them and abuses them. Destruction and death in Gaza will not ensure their future, but rather lead to more violence and killings.

Join us in protest this coming Saturday, 3.1.2009, in Tel Aviv. Together we will call out:

Stop the Killing! No to the Siege! Yes to life for both peoples!

In these dark days, let us stick to our message:

Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies!

Our demand: A full truce and the lifting of the siege on Gaza NOW!

Please note: For the past week mass arrests have been carried out amongst Palestinian citizens of Israel who are exercising their democratic right to protest. On Saturday, at 13:00, before the Tel Aviv demonstration, a mass protest rally will be held in Sakhnin by the High Committee of Arab Israelis against the killing in Gaza. Please make an effort to join – your presence is of the essence!

Demonstrations this week in Israel against the Gaza War





21 activists protesting Gaza op detained. "Left-wing activists arrested after attempting to block entrance to Sde Dov military airfield in bid to prevent pilots from 'taking off to bombard Gaza civilians.'" This demonstration was held today. The group was from "Anarchists Against the Wall." The sign they're carrying reads "The blood of children is on your hands." [See their website for a detailed report on a variety of Israeli left-wing demonstrations against the Gaza war - War on Gaza met with dissent].

Protesters call on PM to talk with Hamas.

Left-wing activists from across Israel demonstrated Thursday evening in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in protest of the IDF's continued military operation in Gaza, and called for an immediate ceasefire.



Some 200 people assembled outside the official residence of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem, and urged him to order the military to halt the fighting. "Our main message is – 'Children in Gaza and Sderot want to live'," said Ofer Neiman, one of the rally's organizers.

[The Hebrew signs at this rally read "Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies" and "The IDF and Hamas are fighting on our account"].

Neiman explained that he and his friends sought to draw attention to the suffering of civilians on both sides. "We call not only for a ceasefire with Hamas, but for a comprehensive truce with our neighbors in order to resolve the core issues and find a way out of the cycle of bloodshed.

"The notion that Israel is completely right and the Palestinians are completely wrong is false and gives legitimacy to anti-humanitarian acts in the Gaza Strip," he stated.

According to Neiman, among the rally's participants were several Sderot residents who are members of the "Different Voice" organization, which calls for dialogue with the Palestinians in Gaza.

Meanwhile in Tel Aviv locals went out on their bikes to protest the operation in Gaza and the rocket fire on Israel. Hagai Matar told Ynet: "Some 40 bike riders gathered at the Rabin Square. This is a routine activity to protest the occupation, but we took this opportunity to call for an end to the fighting."



Matar said that "disproportionate" police forces attempted to forcefully disperse the protest.

"We left the place and reassembled somewhere else, rode through Rothschild Boulevards and Allenby Street and spoke to the passersby," he said. "We wanted to help people become aware of the complexity of the situation and of the fact that there are alternatives to the fighting, that dialogue is possible."

Matar noted that the group did not only sympathize with one side of the conflict. "We believe that the solution is dialogue. This is the only way to stop the suffering. The fact that we have been able to spread the message is very important to us, and it is important to keep that up," he concluded.

Police allow anti-war protesters to raise Palestinian flags "Following pressure exerted by High Court, police decide to reverse decision not to okay march against Gaza op if participants wave PA flags. The police announced Friday during a High Court hearing that it would allow left-wing protesters to raise Palestinian flags during a rally calling to end the military operation in Gaza."



Violent riots in Jerusalem; officer hurt. "Hundreds of Arabs clashed with police forces Friday throughout Jerusalem after religious services concluded in the Temple Mount and the capital's mosques."

Dueling demonstrations

Youtube video of a pro-Hamas rally in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, a couple of days ago.



Another video of the same events.



I had read about the video of this rally on a couple of websites (for example, Harry's Place has a post about it), but until I watched it I didn't realize how disturbing I would find it. At a big intersection in the city, a large pro-Hamas demonstration faces a smaller group of pro-Israel demonstrators; they're separated from each other by a main street and the police. The demonstration lasted a couple of hours, and as it grew dark, the pro-Hamas side grew more numerous and eventually people from that group tried to cross the street to confront the pro-Israel group directly, rather than simply hurling insults at them. (The level of political discourse was not very high, let's put it that way). Fortunately, the police intervened and forced them back onto the sidewalk. Had I been part of the pro-Israel group, I would have found it very scary at that point. This was no peaceful demonstration in support of the Palestinian people.

I noticed some signs from A.N.S.W.E.R. in the crowd but wasn't able to see many slogans.

Some slogans - "Free free Palestine," "Allahu Akbar," the Shehada, "Palestine will never die," lots of cars honking their horns.

Update: The Miami Herald has an article about the Ft. Lauderdale rally, with their own video that covers the pro-Israel demonstrators much more thoroughly. One of the pro-Israel demonstrators held a sign saying - "Nuke Gaza Then Iran." They also chant "Stop the missiles," one man chanted "Palestine does not exist," another said, "Jail Hamas then you'll have peace." Most of the pro-Israel demonstrators were pretty aggressive young guys. I don't think I would have felt particularly comfortable standing with them either.

Buffalo anti-Israel demonstration

Just looking through the list of other related videos on Youtube, I found a video of a demonstration on Tuesday in Buffalo. The slogans are less disturbing but not particularly comforting. I certainly wouldn't participate in this rally either. Some slogans: "Down with the occupation," "Down with Israel," then there's a speech by someone with a hoarse voice, and some cries of "Takbir! Takbir! Allahu Akbar!" He says, "Please stop supporting Israel." "Long live Palestine!" And that hoary old chestnut - "The people united will never be defeated!" "Viva Viva Palestina!" "Viva viva intifada!" "Stop bombing Gaza now! Free free Palestine!"



See here for a longer video of this same demonstration in Buffalo.

What do American Jewish organizations have to say about war in Gaza?

It occurred to me to wonder what various Jewish organizations are saying about the current war in Gaza, and what actions they advocate. So here I list links to statements from American Jewish organizations from the left to the right.

Farther left

Jewish Voice for Peace - "Jewish Voice for Peace joins millions around the world, including the 1,000 Israelis who protested in the streets of Tel Aviv this weekend, in condemning ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza. We call for an immediate end to attacks on all civilians, whether Palestinian or Israeli."

While this statement seems rather mild to me, the blog attached to the JVP website, MuzzleWatch, is much more radical. See, for example, a recent post: "To be clear, attacks against civilians are generally to be condemned, whether occurring in Gaza or Sderot, but it is necessary to understand the causes of conflict and violence, and to properly assess the unambiguously disproportionate nature of this conflict. We get very little of this from the US corporate press which will almost always first discuss Israel’s need to defend itself, has the Israeli ambassador to the US on, etc, before mentioning the slight possibility that some people in some part of the world may think that the Israeli attacks might just be a tad too harsh."

The website for Common Dreams has a variety of left-wing views on Israel and Gaza, including many articles written by American and Israeli Jews.

Left-wing

Brit Tzedek - "There is no doubt that Israel has the right and the obligation to protect its citizens. But Israel's only hope for survival as a secure and democratic Jewish homeland lies in a diplomatic - rather than military - solution, and in a negotiated peace agreement with the Palestinians."

American Friends of Peace Now - "APN mourns the loss of life and the suffering on both sides. APN supports its Israeli sister organization, Peace Now, in calling on the government of Israel to end its military operation in the Gaza Strip and to act toward achieving a ceasefire. APN strongly denounces the firing of rockets and mortar rounds from Gaza into Israel and expresses its solidarity with the residents of communities in southern Israel, who have been subject to the unacceptable terror of incoming fire from the Gaza Strip. APN also expresses deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Gaza."

Israel Policy Forum - "Israel Policy Forum (IPF) urges the United States to push for an immediate end to hostilities and resumption of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The ceasefire was terminated by Hamas on December 19, despite the stated willingness of the Israelis to extend it and the efforts of the Egyptians to negotiate an extension. Israel’s blockade was a response to continued Hamas firing of missiles at Israeli communities and other infractions, and the use of the ceasefire for building up its arsenal of longer range and more sophisticated missiles, the impact of which is now being felt in ever wider areas of Israel."

Center-Right

American Jewish Congress - "The American Jewish Congress today stated its support for Israel’s defensive measures in the Gaza Strip. The attacks against Hamas leadership, facilities, rocket launching sites, and weapons-smuggling tunnels have been precise and effective. No sovereign nation is required by either international law or morality to put up with attacks on its civilians as Israel has done. Any nation would act to put a stop to such attacks. Neither is a sovereign nation required to avoid the use of force by simply acceding to the demands of those who are less scrupulous."

Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations - "New York, December 27, 2008. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations stands solidly with the government of Israel and its decision to defend its people against terrorism through the targeted airstrikes made on Gaza today."

Right-wing

Zionist Organization of America - "The ZOA firmly supports Israel's long-overdue air strikes upon the Hamas leadership, personnel and fortifications in Gaza."

War in Gaza

I honestly don't know what to think about the Israeli assault on Gaza. I just read through my blog posts over the last couple of years since Hamas took over Gaza, and each time I come to the same conclusion - that there is nothing good Israel can do in Gaza. Hamas lobs missiles at Israel, kills a few Israelis, causes more property damage, terrorizes people in communities like Sderot and makes it impossible to lead a normal life in them. Israel then bombs Gaza, destroys buildings, kills a lot of people including many Hamas "militants" (as they say in the American press) as well as innocent civilians, and eventually some sort of cease-fire is cobbled together.

This happened when I was in Israel in 2006, when Gilad Shalit was kidnapped, and the Israeli reaction was bombing of Gaza and brief tank incursions (if I remember correctly). Of course the world condemned Israel at that time for being "disproportionate." Then Gaza was forgotten when the second Lebanon war began later that summer.

What should Israel do? Would negotiations with Hamas do any good? (Is Hamas even willing to negotiate with Israel? And if so, about what?) Or should Israel just go in and blow everything to smithereens? Aside from being immoral, probably a war crime, and killing many innocent people, this probably would not even stop all of the rocket fire from Gaza. Perhaps Israel should try reoccupying Gaza? No, I didn't think so - I still remember how much Israeli parents feared when their sons went into the army and had to serve in Gaza, how dangerous it was for them and what a moral swamp they entered enforcing the occupation.

If this war continues long enough, into the beginning of the spring semester, I am sure that there will be forums organized by concerned people on Gaza and Israel (mostly from the anti-Israel perspective), perhaps a demonstration or two with students wearing kaffiyehs, speakers declaiming about the awful things Israel is doing in Gaza, and not mentioning anything about Hamas, its goal to destroy Israel, or the rocket fire into Israel. I am not looking forward to this, if it happens. And will we hear anything useful about what might actually do some good? No, we'll be in the verbal prison of left-wing platitudes.

I've been reading articles around the blogosphere and either read reactions like mine (for example, Jeff Weintraub: Wartime in Gaza), over-the-top leftist attacks on Israel, or right-wing defenses of Israel that ignore the real suffering of Gaza's population.

It seems like Israel might be on the verge of a ground attack on Gaza. Based on comparison with the second Lebanon war and the results of the Israel ground assault then, I fear that Israel is about to make a big mistake. I think that there is some justification for the Israeli air assault on Gaza - but only if it stops pretty soon, and there is at least a temporary cease-fire that gives the opportunity to bring in humanitarian aid to Gaza. And also if real negotiations begin between Israel and Hamas (through a third-party) that will lead to the complete ending of rocket fire on Israel. (Although negotiations like this seem like pie-in-the-sky in the face of the current fighting).

Anti-war? Or pro-Hamas?

A photographer who goes by the name of redsquirrel08 has posted photographs of demonstrations in New York City that have occurred since the weekend to protest the Israeli attacks on Gaza. It is instructive to read the signs the demonstrators carried to determine how exactly they think about Jews and Israel, and what should occur in Gaza. Reading these slogans would cause one to have grave doubts that the demonstrators actually seek peace. Those represented in the demonstration include Al-Awda, the International Action Center (who, among other things, support the current government of North Korea; founded by Ramsey Clark), the Islamic Thinkers Society, Neturei Karta and some group called revolutionmuslim.com.

The slogans from the “Free Palestine” rally in NYC Dec. 28 include:

ISO - picture of six babies, holding up their fists – “Free Palestine."

Al-Awda slogans – "Long Live in the Resistance in Gaza," "Stop Zionist Genocide in Gaza"; "Long Live the Palestinian Resistance, Break the Siege on Gaza Now"; "Stop the Christmas Massacre in Gaza"; “Free Palestine from the River to the Sea” with a drawing of Palestine in the colors of the Palestinian flag and a fist in front of it holding a key, “Gaza is Today’s Warsaw Ghetto”; "U.S.-‘Israel’: Hands Off Gaza" (the scare quotes around Israel I presume because it doesn't really exist).

Some handmade signs: “Free Palestine – One State with Rights of all” - This one has a drawing of a man knocking down a wall with a sledgehammer. “Another Jewish Mets fan against the Occupation"; a couple of home made signs saying “Might Does Not Make Right” and newsphotos from Gaza; "Collective Punishment is a war crime"; “We are all Palestinians”;“End U.S.-Israel Racist Atrocities” with a swastika. A woman wearing a shirt saying “Jews against the Occupation”; "Holy Innocents Herod at 1st Christmas, Israel 2008 in Gaza" (the old anti-semitism meets the new anti-semitism - Israel representing those who crucified Jesus, the Palestinians representing Jesus).

International Action Center: "Gaza’s Blood is on U.S. hands"

The signs from the Islamic Thinkers Society are the most violent - I hope the FBI is keeping an eye on these guys. Their website is revolting.
“God will send the Mushroom Cloud from the Sky on Israel”
“Allah will destroy the Terrorist State of Israel” with an Israeli flag below the words – inside the Star of David is a Swastika
“Israel does not exist – Palestine is Islamic Land, not Arab or Jewish land.”
“Who ever calls for Two State Solution is the Enemy of Islam and Muslims.”
“The Holocaust was a hoax”

Revolutionmuslim.com also has a very violent sign, showing a torso with an explosive belt on it, and the slogan, “May Allah Give Victory to the Islamic Resistance in Palestine,” and a drawing of an AK-47, also a slogan in Arabic. I certainly hope the FBI is keeping an eye on these folks also. The front page of their web site quotes Ayman al-Zawahari (no. 2 in Al-Qaeda) on the Israeli attacks on Gaza.

At another rally a couple of days later, which seems to have been sponsored by the same coalition of groups, there are some new signs printed by A.N.S.W.E.R. (connected to the International Action Center). Slogans include: "Free Palestine; support the right of return." Neturei Karta showed up again as well. There were also some people from the Green Party. A woman held a sign reading: "Apartheid: Wrong for South Africans, Wrong for Palestinians." Below it was the iconic painting of Barack Obama with the slogan, "Yes, we can. End U.S. military aid to Israel!"

There's a particularly disgusting sign - a photo of a mutiliated body, with the slogan, "What JEWS do to Palestinians and Iraqis."

And across the street from them, a pro-Israel rally - guys wearing kippot, Israeli flags, and some slogans in Arabic which I imagine are pro-Israel. Slogans include: "Stop Hamas Killers," "Hamas Stop Attacks." Also a sign - "Support the West Not Islam." Other signs: One with the slogan "If 15 rockets bombarded NYC daily, you'd be pretty pissed too." It also says "Stand with Israel in their right to defend their citizens." A sign in Hebrew: "The disengagement - terrible danger to Jews." On the top it says, "The Rebbe of Lubavitch, the King Messiah, warns." I think I saw this same sign last summer when I was in Israel, right after the terrorist attack on King David St. the last day I was in Jerusalem. A handmade sign: "Israel is dying for peace; Hamas and Hezbollah celebrate murder." I can't tell who organized this rally, which seems intended to counter the anti-Israel protestors.