Ever since Israel and Palestine’s conflict with each other escalated to officially being war, the world has drawn the line on who they support. We here at The Inquisitr reported numerous times on the stances that are for or against Israel. For example, both London and Chicago held support rallies for Palestine calling for Israel’s surrender. Navi Pillay , the high commissioner for the United Nations, verbally assaulted both Israel and the United States for their general stance against the Hamas in Palestine.
Now earlier today, a pro-Palestinian rally and march on the White House, led by the ANSWER Coalition, drew thousands out turning Pennsylvania Avenue and Lafayette Square – the park right in front of the White House – into a ocean of protesting demonstrators!
According to an article by ABC News , it reports that the rally had protesters waving Palestinian flags while chanting, “Free! Free Palestine!” and “Five, six, seven, eight, Israel is an apartheid state!” Many of the protesters even held signs that read “Free Palestine, Let Gaza Live!” There was also a small stage in the park where speeches were made to rally the people before they made their march.
Protesters criticized Israel’s “occupation” of Palestinian territory and President Obama’s assertions that Israel has the “right to defend itself” in the face of Hamas rockets. At times, a good defense means a good offense, and Israel accomplished that by taking out numerous terror targets in Gaza.
Gaza protest in Lafayette Sq outside White House today pic.twitter.com/k20TlJUHQY
— Chris Good (@c_good) August 2, 2014
However, it seems that the peaceful rally turned violent as explained in an article by Front Page . It reports that Dan Merica, associate producer for CNN Politics, has sent out a series of photos on social media about the small number of Israel supporters being evacuated in police vans from the White House after being surrounding. The pro-Palestinian supporters’ turn to aggression didn’t stop when the Israel supporters were gone. Dan Merica took more pictures of the rally showing Palestine supporters burning the Israeli flag. The chants turned more condemning and threatening, which include “Death to Jews!” and “Death to Israel!” Then, to top it off, Cornel West – known by some media outlets for Race-baiting and being a vitriolic Jew-hater – gave a speech on behalf of Muslims everywhere who have the same views as he does. In short, he wanted the Jews to be “driven into the sea.”
Marchers burn #Israel flag as they take to streets in massive DC rally for #Gaza pic.twitter.com/b0imvoO0BC
— M. Scott Mahaskey (@smahaskey) August 2, 2014
Now that you have read two different takes on the pro-Palestine rally, we want to know what you think about their organizer, ANSWER Coalition. Are they what they self-describe themselves to be: anti-war and anti-racism group that supports Palestine? Or are they a pro-Hamas, communist, terrorist support group as reported by other sources? Tell us why and let us know in the comments below.
[Images via Twitter and Bing]