Supporters of Israel attending a large rally in Los Angeles were attacked Sunday by four Palestinian Arabs carrying 'Palestine' flags, sporting anti-semitic stickers and graffiti and wielding clubs.
The incident occurred at a large solidarity rally outside the Los Angeles Federal building in West Los Angeles, a traditional site for such events. Sponsored by Stand With Us and the Israel American Committee, the rally drew a crowd of about 1,250 Jews and Christian supporters of Israel.
The Times of Israel had a pretty good summary of what was said at the rally..a yearning for peace, and an affirmation of Israel's right to defend its people:
"This war is hard for Israel to fight because Hamas is cowardly. They are hiding their rockets and rocket launchers in schools and mosques, hospitals and apartments,” StandWithUs President Roz Rothstein told the crowd. “They are intentionally endangering everyone, on both sides. All of us here today, who support liberal democratic values and peace, hope that Israel succeeds in defeating Hamas.”
Leehy Sha’ar – whose nephew, Gil-ad, was one of the three teenagers kidnapped and killed by Hamas on June 12 — also spoke briefly.
“Israel only wants to live in peace but she can only live in peace with neighbors who also want to live in peace with her,” Sha’ar said. “In the name of the three holy boys, Gil-ad Sha’ar, Naftali Fraenkel and Eyal Yifrach, may Hashem [God] bless us with unity and strength to defeat the Hamas and terrorist enemies and may Hashem bring us closer to the true peace that we all deserve.”
As always, Palestinian Arabs living in the Los Angeles area and various groupies underlined that message..that peace can't be one way. That contingent, whose numbers eventually swelled to about 200 put on a counter demonstration. It's indicative of the difference between the two groups that the pro-Israel crowd was chanting 'am Yisrael chai' (Israel lives) as opposed to 'Allahu Akbar','Death To Israel' and the other openly anti-semitic slogans coming from the pro-Palestinian counter demonstration.
The signs were quite different too.
The Los Angeles Police did a decent job of keeping the two groups separated but at one point, four men who later turned out to be Palestinians arrived in a pickup truck, jumped out and began physically assaulting the pro-Israel demonstrators with clubs.
A shot was fired at the truck as it fled the area by a DHS officer who was on the scene . The 4 Palestinians were later arrested and will likely be charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Several people were treated on the scene for injuries and I believe on person, an elderly woman, was taken away in a Hatzolah ambulance.
Needless to say, Los Angeles' left wing Times reported (via 'media reports' meaning the AP) that the violence broke out of the trampling of a Palestinian flag by pro-Israel demonstrators. That's an utter falsehood as anyone who was there and has a regard for truth would tell you. The Arabs started swinging first, and the 'trampling' occurred in an attempt to disarm them. But then, that's The Times.And I'm sure the local Jewish Journal, a paper with a similar political orientation to the Times will be quick to back them up. Israel must be blamed even for a blatant attack like this.
That aside, the message this sent can't be emphasized enough. It's not 'Israelis' or Israel institutions that are being attacked here but Jews. Just like their Hamas heroes, these people don't differentiate between the two. Nor would it change if Israel ceased to exist.
It's time Jews living in the diaspora understood that reality.
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