Protesters rally on Mideast in S.F.

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"Skeptical of a proposed cease-fire and decrying civilian casualties, thousands of protesters marched peacefully through downtown San Francisco and in cities across the country Saturday, calling for an end to U.S.-backed Israeli attacks in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

The Bay Area crowd of first-time protesters, longtime activists and families with children rallied at Civic Center before and after a march down Market Street.

"We're objecting to what the U.S. and Israel are doing in the Middle East, what they're willing to achieve by attacking, occupying and killing innocent civilians," said Enayat Katouli, a community college instructor and founder of an Iranian pro-democracy group in Oakland.

Protester Siham Elias of San Rafael, who made a narrow escape out of Lebanon last month during a family visit, also criticized the United States' arming of Israel. "We have to send aid and feed the hungry and build libraries rather then sending weapons," Elias said. "No bombing is going to help."

Lines of marchers stretched for blocks along Market Street as part of the demonstration organized by the ANSWER Coalition, which also sponsored previous large-scale protests of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. San Francisco police made no crowd estimate, but did confirm that the rally was peaceful and led to only one arrest involving attempts to burn an Israeli flag."

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/15261862.htm

[Drum]

1. self-delete

responding to wrong post

[saltpoint]

2. Hurray for Bay Area folks who were part of this. I'm not cool with

burning the Israeli flag or anyone else's flag but overwhelmingly, the protest was in the name of peace and dignity of all people, and held to gather the people's will against the war-makers like Rumsfeld, the torturers like Gonzales, and the fart-in-a-whirlwind fake diplomats like Condi Rice.

Not to mention that little fool in the White House.

[Purveyor]

3. I'm not cool with burning the israeli flag. Agreed...piss on it,

shit on it or pick your nose with it but burning creates a hazard for others in the crowd.

[saltpoint]

4. Thanks for missing the point of my post in response to the

spirit of the OP.

I spoke in praise of Bay Area participants in a peace protest.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

5. Cally and I were there...

and I was pretty disappointed in the turnout. This protest was quite small in comparision to most I have attended over the years. I can only guess that the notion of directly protesting Irael was just too much for some.

I really expected more of my town. :(