Posted by jonmark at 1/11/09 9:15 p.m.

Why can't they get this news out sooner
so I can be there.

Posted by Linda J at 1/11/09 9:22 p.m.

Hey Mr. Reporter (Brad Wong). So there were over 1500 people there? Your article says there were over 3 x the 500 that marched for Gaza last week. Where are the pictures of those 1500 pro-Israel people? There are lots of pictures of the hundreds (one news report even said 2000) Gaza supporters from the march last week.

The headline also says they marched. What was the march route?

Or was this story phoned in by the PR machine Israel has operating to cover their bloody rampage in Gaza?

Sadly, no matter how many people rally to encourage the Israeli army, the children they have killed in Gaza will haunt them all forever. And there have been many many innocents (not just children) killed with weapons the U.S. supplied to Israel. Shame on the people rallying for such carnage.

Posted by grimace1980 at 1/11/09 9:36 p.m.

B.O.G. Let the pain fall for hamas and gaza.

Posted by ashleymarie at 1/11/09 9:50 p.m.

Solidarity is not designed for the oppressor; it is a means of supporting those who are resisting oppression. What these "pro-Israel" supporters are encouraging is willful ignorance of the ongoing oppression of Palestinians by the state of Israel; egregious, one-sided misrepresentations of the conflict; and the U.S.'s culpability in genocide and state-sponsored terrorism.

Many many people around the world have condemned Israel's war on Gaza (in addition to the years of devastating blockades, land seizures, and economic and physical violence throughout Gaza and the West Bank)--why is the U.S. so hell-bent on supporting genocide?

In addition, many Jewish people and Israelis have stood in solidarity with Gazans, precisely because there is a looming contradiction between identifying as a historically oppressed population and then supporting Israel's oppression of others. Let's call this what it is--one cannot stand in solidarity with apartheid.

Posted by Kilroy was here at 1/11/09 10:40 p.m.

Posted by BushMinder at 1/11/09 10:25 p.m.

Boy these guys have seemed to have cearly jepordized their US tax exempt status on this one.

Why? Because they believe that Israelis should have the right to go about their lives peacefully and to not live in fear of indiscriminate rocket attacks from an enemy that believes it is a religious duty "wipe them off the map"?

Posted by Steve E. at 1/11/09 11:47 p.m.

Posted by BushMinder at 1/11/09 11:17 p.m.
No, they are a church and need to shut up, close thier doors and do what ever they do inside. Showing a public polictical nature violates thier tax exempt status..
------------
I'm opposed to the Israeli aggression, but you are wrong. this is perfectly legal for a church or any other non-profit to do. It is not lobbying as long as no one is asked to contact an office holder or support specific legislation. The IRS has rather complicated rules about this, which I'm unfortunately having to learn since I work with a nonprofit environmental group.

Posted by expatmom at 1/12/09 1:44 a.m.

from the article :

"Hamas is denying Israelis their right to exist," the 47-year-old from Clyde Hill said. "All Hamas has to do is denounce sending rockets into Israel."

ashleymarie said it wonderfully:

"What these "pro-Israel" supporters are encouraging is willful ignorance of the ongoing oppression of Palestinians by the state of Israel; egregious, one-sided misrepresentations of the conflict; and the U.S.'s culpability in genocide and state-sponsored terrorism."

Mr Hill is displaying complete (willfull? who knows) ignorance of what's going on.

The ceasefire was working (1 rocket in the whole month of Oct), yet for some reason Israel decided that they didn't want that security, so they broke the ceasefire by killing militants on Nov 4 (when no one was looking, right? Thanks, US elections).

So Israelis CANNOT whine about lack of security, that this is self-defense, etc, when THEY brought it on themselves.

They are using US weapons illegally, since this is an act of aggression, not of self-defense.

Posted by expatmom at 1/12/09 2:07 a.m.

"Israel wants the pain and suffering to end," she said. "It is committed to working with the Palestinians toward a peaceful, diplomatic solution where both can live side by side in peace and security."

No. Israel wants its pain and suffering to end.

As I noted above it is obviously opposed to "a peaceful, diplomatic solution", since they had it, and threw it away.

Posted by jambi at 1/12/09 4:12 a.m.

Pretty simple - don't mess with God's Children. For governments' around the world to blame Israel is a political stance because they do not want to suffer the wrath of Hamas. Good Lord, Hamas has a strong foot-hold right here in the U.S. and if you didn't know that then you have not been paying attention.

Posted by Leeblake at 1/12/09 4:13 a.m.

god bless israel.............

i'm just another goy protesting islamo-fascism

and supporting civilized people everywhere

Posted by bawbee at 1/12/09 4:15 a.m.

If they want solidarity then they ought to GO over to ISRAEL and march there. What have they gained by doing it in Seattle?

Posted by Leeblake at 1/12/09 4:24 a.m.

no, i have a western definition of civilized.......

unlike some seattle-lites i am not bi-polar on good and evil, right and wrong etc...

Posted by jambi at 1/12/09 4:28 a.m.

"expatmom" - OK, I am a gentile and my guess is that you are muslim that does not believe in our 1st Amendment? I could be wrong, but then again living in the U.S. gives anyone the right to voice their opinion just as you did.

Posted by Leeblake at 1/12/09 4:31 a.m.

i do believe you are spot on there jambi

Posted by expatmom at 1/12/09 4:40 a.m.

Leeblake,
"i am not bi-polar on good and evil"

Supporting the killing of innocent civilians, on either side, shows exactly what you describe.

jambi,
Yes, you are wrong, about everything you said. What did my comment have to do with the 1st amendment? Why in the world would you deduce I was Muslim, when all I said was, I wanted to save US tax dollars?

Posted by Leeblake at 1/12/09 4:47 a.m.

i don't "support the killing of innocent civilians".

though islamo-fascists urge exactly that.

war is hell

Posted by expatmom at 1/12/09 4:59 a.m.

Leeblake,

"though islamo-fascists urge exactly that."

How ironic, then, that they talk about it, without doing it very often, while the Israelis take the Nike approach :

Just Do It.

And why would I listen to Golda Meir?

Posted by MilwaukeeBroad at 1/12/09 4:59 a.m.

I support Israel and the IDF. I hope they wipe Hamas from the Gaza Strip soon!

Also, I don't know why people complain about the $3.5 billion in military aid we send to Israel every year, especially when out own government is spending nearly 3 times that amount each month being in Iraq. Can you get you priorities straight, please?

Posted by expatmom at 1/12/09 5:01 a.m.

David Ben Gurion (the first Israeli Prime Minister) quoted by Nahum Goldmann in Le Paraddoxe Juif (The Jewish Paradox), pp121:

"If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have taken their country. It is true God promised it to us, but how could that interest them? Our God is not theirs. There has been Anti - Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept that?"

Posted by Leeblake at 1/12/09 5:02 a.m.

there is no reason you should listen to golda mier.....
you like the islamo-fascists...........

the quote had deep meaning to me

Posted by jambi at 1/12/09 5:11 a.m.

"Leeblake" - Thanks. I wonder sometimes if folks even read the fairly succinct articles and post about stuff. Well, I guess it is cannon fodder for those of us that have been in a war and vice-versa. If my country was being rocketed and citizens were dying I would retaliate in any way, shape or form I felt necessary in spite of religion and God love the 1st Amendment!!

Posted by expatmom at 1/12/09 5:12 a.m.

MilwaukeeBroad,
I think that those who are upset about financing Israel are probably not happy about Iraq, either.

But at least the money going to Iraq is financing an American action (misguided though it is).

The days of conflating American and Israeli interests are (finally) coming to an end, as witnessed by the US abstention on the UN Resolution calling for a ceasefire.

Posted by expatmom at 1/12/09 5:14 a.m.

jambi,

"If my country was being rocketed and citizens were dying"

And what if it wasn't? Like Israel wasn't, last summer?

Would you have escalated the violence the way Israel did on Nov 4? You need to get your facts straight if you want to debate intelligently.

Posted by Leeblake at 1/12/09 5:16 a.m.

amen, jambi..............

then you get the bitter pro-jihad woman who mistakes her confusion for strength (i think she's french)

Posted by Leeblake at 1/12/09 5:20 a.m.

and hamas dropped the truce........

bad choice apparently

Posted by jambi at 1/12/09 5:21 a.m.

"expatmom" - Don't normally hover over the comment section, but your comment(s) would lead a normal person to believe that you are anti-1st Amendmant, anti-violence, anti-Isreal and pro-muslim. Having been in a war before you were born, I agree violence is not the answer. One of my best friends is a ph.d muslim that believes Israel has the right to defend itself being a sovereign country. Let's get beyond that and discuss the fact that these folks have the right to gather and speak their minds in the U.S. no matter where, OK??

Posted by aseahawkfan at 1/12/09 6:38 a.m.

I will have sympathy for Arabic people when they denounce terrorism as a means to obtain their ends. I have no sympathy for people that teach that suicide bombing is a viable form of self-defense, not even those that half-heartedly claim it is wrong, but say after "but you have to understand what they are doing to us".

The Arabic people have not been peaceful citizens no matter where they have lived be it here, Europe, Indonesia, India, or the Middle East. They always have extremists that use indiscriminate violence as an acceptable means of conflict resolution.

Not to mention I doubt a single supporter of the Palestinian people on this board that is not an Arab would support living as Arab leaders force their people to live.

I doubt Ashley Marie would allow herself to be told to veil up, not drive a car, and follow behind a man as well as not even begin to think to be allowed to question Arabic religious leaders.

You either support Theocratic Fascism or you don't. Well, I don't. I think the Theocratic fascists that seem to have usurped control of the Islamic nations need to be crushed, just like we crushed the monarchs that tried to keep their hold on America and Europe. I see no reason to suddently about face and just consider Theocratic Fascism supported by terrorism just another cultural choice.

If American's had been forced to see Monarchic rule as just another choice, Democracy would not exist. I for one am glad Israel is moving to crush Hamas. I see no diplomatic means for dealing with Arab Fascists who feel they are ordained by God to rule the world and spread Islam to every corner of it once they get the power.

Go Israel, continue to go after the terrorists in your midst. No American would tolerate the daily terrorist attacks the Israeli people deal with. It happens so often in Israel that the news does not receive them all, but those of us who actually read know that Middle Eastern Arabs are giving you no choice but to use extremely violent means to defend yourself.

All too many nations in the MIddle East have already made it well known that if they had the power, they would destroy you. If I had to live with that shadow hanging over me in America, I would be ready to inflict violence and attack such an enemy at the drop of a hat.

You have my full support. No one should have to live with such a shadow of death hanging over them. I'm tired of reading how Islamic nations outlaw religious and social freedoms while Americans claim these opporessive societies are the ones being wronged just because they are small.

I don't care what size you are, if you are a dictatorial theocracy, you are an oppressive nation that should be opposed. That is the majority of Islamic nations that feel they can deny religious freedom and destroy the artifacts of other religion with impunity.

Not to mention their treatment of women is the most atrocious I've ever heard of. Raping a woman as punishment? Making them wear veils? How about entering the modern day.

Keep at it Israel. No power for the oppressive cultures in the Middle East. Keep them from growing and teaching their evil values to others.

Posted by sustainability at 1/12/09 6:52 a.m.

Numbers of people out at demonstrations like this is directly related to the organizing ability of the sponsors to contact as many people as possible. I believe there are many people who have read beyond the headlines and would identify more with those showing sympathy for the Gazans then those showing identification with the Israelis killing many hundreds of women and children, and now going into phase three of escalating that killing (which is financed by U.S. taxpayers).

Posted by expatmom at 1/12/09 7:19 a.m.

jambi,
"these folks have the right to gather and speak their minds in the U.S. no matter where, OK??"

Is that what you meant about "1st amendment"? I couldn't understand what you were talking about, since I NEVER commented on these people's right to demonstrate.

Of course they have the right to demonstrate, like I have the right to point out that their demonstration was based on falsehoods (from the people quoted in the article).

Posted by sustainability at 1/12/09 7:21 a.m.

These demonstrators should read what Jewish intellectual, Gilad Atzmon, wrote yesterday:
"If world Jewry continues to support Israel, as they momentarily do, it affirms to us all that Israeli war crimes are indeed committed in the name of the Jewish people and with their support. . . .

"If Jewish institutions would be clever enough and withdraw their support of Israel, this would be more than welcome. It wouldn’t save Israel but it would mean that Israel is committing all these crimes in the name of the Jewish people but without the Jewish people's consent. This is the most reasonable thing Jews can do to save themselves. For some reason, they fail to do it yet."

Posted by Seatawk at 1/12/09 7:37 a.m.

Posted by Linda J at 1/11/09 9:22 p.m.

"Where are the pictures of those 1500 pro-Israel people? There are lots of pictures of the hundreds (one news report even said 2000) Gaza supporters from the march last week."

I'm sure it has everything to do with inflated numbers of pro Israeli people and nothing to do with that fact that the PI board members are staunch Gaza supporters.

Posted by chump change at 1/12/09 7:50 a.m.

after reading all these responses, I believe ashleymarie said it best...

Posted by You Big Weirdo at 1/12/09 8:21 a.m.

This is fairly fraudulent reporting.

It is always easier to get people to go to their church or temple than it is to get people in the streets. And the number of people demonstrating to end the Israeli government's apartheid-like system was more than 500 people.

It's highly disturbing to me that Temple D'Hirsch, a generally very progressive congregation, would be the stage for such a racist rally.

Posted by geoduck at 1/12/09 8:27 a.m.

All of those Hamas and Jihad fighters are "innocent civilians", there is no formal army in Gaza so why not stop using that discription?
Terrorists do not wear uniforms, they blend in with the innocent better that way, and why don't you Hamas supporters go to Gaza to show your support?.

Posted by whispercat at 1/12/09 8:29 a.m.

Expatmon

It must be easy for you to point fingers especially as you most likely have never lived in either Israel or Gaza. I did, I lived in the north of Israel from 1970 to 1976. I would say I spent 90% of the time sleeping in an underground bomb shelter due to the constant, nightly rocket fire from Syria. Some of the children on our farm had never slept above ground.

Hamas has said that they will never stop fighting until every last jew is dead.

I think Senate Democratic Majority Leader said it best when he was quoted as saying that: Consider if Vancouver B.C. was shooting 200 rockets a day into Seattle, don't you think the USA would take action?

Maybe before you spout off about things you know nothing about you should walk in the Israelies shoes!