Posted on 08/12/2006 7:32:11 PM PDT by SmithL
SAN FRANCISCO -- Police arrested a demonstrator today in a melee that started when a woman tried to burn an Israeli flag at a rally in downtown San Francisco over Israel's military actions against Lebanon and Palestinian territories.
After thousands of demonstrators marched through downtown at midday, police used batons to subdue the brief skirmish at the Civic Center. Tensions flared between the demonstrators and counter protesters, who were on opposite sides of Polk Street, separated by metal barricades and dozens of polices officers.
The two groups exchanged insults and gestures periodically throughout the rallies. When a woman started to burn an Israeli flag, police rushed toward her and then other demonstrators joined the fracas, resulting in one arrest.
The protest was one of several rallies today around the country, including one at the White House. The San Francisco protest began at 11 a.m. at the Civic Center and featured speeches, chants, drummers and the march down Market and Mission streets, which were closed to traffic.
Initiated by the Answer Coalition, the National Council of Arab Americans and the Muslim American Society's Freedom Foundation, the protest also supported the Palestinian "right of return" to land that is now Israel, and money for jobs and education.
The counter protest, which attracted a few hundred people, was organized by the San Francisco Voice for Israel. Founded in 2004, the group's mission is to counter "anti-Israel hate speech on the streets of the Bay Area," said a spokesman.
In Washington, D.C., Speakers in Lafayette Park energized the most mostly Muslim crowd with chants and speeches condemning Israeli involvement in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, U.S. support for Israel and U.S. involvement in Iraq.
Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark drew cheers when he called for President Bush's impeachment....
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
San Francisco rally thread with photos here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1682627/posts
FReeper SeenTheLight's S.F. after-action report thread here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1682616/posts
Alas.....poor SF..whats become of this city?
Oh for the days when the parades were Gay and the biggest commotion was the naked bike rides through the city. eheheh.
Why not just add the Gay parades to all the protests...
need a little cream for that bitter arabian coffee? (:
Bump
Divide and conquer.
As long as we're on a Calif rant, check out this photo from 3 days ago from the SF Chronicle --these are troops guarding SFO from the threat of terrorism, in the wake of the UK/NYC airliner bomb scare the other day.
See their rifles?
They have NO MAGAZINES --no bullets.
The guys couldn't have shot them even if they'd have needed to.
They must have magazines close at hand.
Well, maybe they could have clubbed the terrorists with their weapons...and that being SF, a good bop on the head might have been enough.
I have family in SF and visit a few times a year, and every time I visit, I wonder when that place is going to sink into the bay. There are reasonable people there (as anywhere) but there are so many others who seem to have absolutely no comprehension of what's going on outside of the Ferry Building Farmer's Market and the Opera House that I honestly don't know what you can do with them. Frankly, I think they regard all of this on the same level as the naked bike ride - for SF, it's all theater.
Close enough for what? To load them in after the guardmen are shot? Loading the weapon is best done behind cover, if the action has already started. If you are the first target in the fray, you won't be able to return fire very quickly at all.
Just anti gun PC.
After 9-11 the CA guard, and many in the northeast as well, were similarly unarmed. In Texas and Oklahoma, OTOH, I saw magazines in the rifles, in both San Antonio and Oklahoma City.
Notice our commie friends from A.N.S.W.R provided the terrorist supporters with their signs.
I mean that he specifically FORBADE them to have it...not like there wasn't any.
But lo and behold, years later after 9/11, and almost on top of the 9/11 anniversary, fully facing another potential tragedy and THEY'RE DOING THE SAME THING...!
I don't mind getting searched, or delays, but what *I* am taking the security more seriously than the commanders of these troops....?
Oh, man, I am SO HAPPY I am not in the US Military....You know these troopers know they're rules of engagement are UTTER B.S.....
Not obviously. I see no magazine pouches. Although at least they have pressure bandages on their left shoulder straps.
If they aren't going to deploy them with ammo, they should at least give them large clubs.
Just wondering about the lack of logic comparing the two situations.
"The protest was one of several rallies today around the country, including one at the White House. The San Francisco protest..."
__________________________________
These are Muslims and their supporters. They mobilized thousands in opposition to Israel in a coordinated effort inside the United States. This does not bode well.
Oh, those lovable peace-loving commies from ANSWER.
We think alike...
The idea that we 'won' the cold war is simplistic, and inocrrect. The communists and socialists are still very much a force. George Soros, a socialist currency trader, almost single handedly got John Kerry, a known Communist sympatizer, elected POTUS.
It ain't over, and the fat lady hasn't sung. It's impossible to believe we can go on much longer with a huge insurgent leftist opposition aligning with every evil tendency in the world, and working hard to lie and creat voilent dissent in the USA.
Lets not forget that in Mexico the left, today, is working overtime to deligitimize the victory of the conservative PAN presidential candidate and replace him vis street action with a leftist Chavezite. It's a model for what the have in mind for 2008 when there latest idiot leftist is rejected by American voters, like Gore and Kerry.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.