http://arborupdate.com/

article/1342/candlelight-vigil-for-peace-ceasefire-in-the-middle-east#c013089

But their Zionist veto is being broken.

Your marches this September, for divestment, will further break down that
Zionist veto on public discussion.

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Posted on Sun, Aug. 13, 2006

* "Protests rip U.S.-Israel policies:
"Demonstrations held in S.F., L.A. Washington, D.C."

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD

Associated Press

On the Web at:
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/15264797.htm

LOS ANGELES - Several thousand protesters marched through California's two
largest cities Saturday to condemn U.S. policy in the Middle East and appeal
for an end to the bloodshed in Israel's war with Islamic militants in
Lebanon.

''I hope that we will stop the aggression against Lebanon, the killing of
innocent civilians,'' said Dina Tawamsy, 32, an engineer who was among more
than 1,000 people marching in downtown Los Angeles.

''I don't believe the kidnapping of two soldiers should lead to the
destruction of the infrastructure of a whole country,'' she said, alluding
to the fighting that began in Lebanon on July 12 after Hezbollah militants
kidnapped two Israeli soldiers.

Demonstrators pounded drums, chanted and waved a large Palestinian flag held
aloft by dozens of marchers. Two women, their faces covered in white
theatrical paint, carried a gurney adorned with milk bottles and effigies of
infant victims. Others waved signs that said, ''Occupation is a crime,'' and
''War is not the answer.''

In San Francisco, as many as 2,000 people rallied. A few protesters climbed
onto bus stop shelters and waved Palestinian flags. Several hundred
counter-demonstrators gathered nearby to show their support for Israel,
waving American and Israeli flags.

The demonstrations were among a handful organized across the country to
criticize U.S. support for Israel and the violence in Lebanon.

They came a day after the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution that
calls for an end to the war between Israel and Hezbollah, and authorizes
15,000 U.N. peacekeepers to help Lebanese troops take control of south
Lebanon as Israel withdraws.

Michael Carr, 42, a marketing consultant from Los Angeles, said he turned
out to deplore the ongoing destruction and death, not choose a side in the
conflict.

Thousands of people also gathered across from the White House, even though
the president was out of town.

Speakers in Lafayette Park energized the 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.

''Occupation is a crime,'' the crowd chanted, equating the situations in the
three areas. But they also called for peace and justice for all.

Associated Press writer Scott Lindlaw in San Francisco contributed to this
report.

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2nd Article:

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* "Rally Near White House Protests Violence in Mideast"

By ROBERT PEAR
NEW YORK TIMES

Published: August 13, 2006

On the Web at:
http://www.nytimes.com/

2006/08/13/washington/13protest.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 — Thousands of people rallied near the White House on
Saturday to protest what they described as Israeli aggression in Lebanon and
the United States’ unwavering support for Israel.

Others rallied Saturday, including a San Francisco face-off over Israel.

The diverse crowd included many Arab-Americans and Muslims, college students
and families, as well as veterans of prior demonstrations against the war in
Iraq.

"We want to know why our tax money is going to support war crimes,’’ said
Mounzer Sleiman, vice chairman of the National Council of Arab-Americans,
one of more than 15 speakers who addressed the protesters gathered in
Lafayette Park, across from the White House, under a cloudless sky.

The crowd erupted periodically in chants, "Israel out of Lebanon now" and
"Free, free Palestine.’’

Dr. Khalil A. Katato of West Bloomfield, Mich., an oncologist who came to
Washington by bus with his wife and five children, said, "We are protesting
U.S. support of Israeli aggression on the Palestinian and Lebanese people.’’

His wife, Daad Katato, said she made the trip to protest the war in Iraq,
and to show sympathy for children killed or injured during Israel’s military
operations in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

The criticism of Israel at Saturday’s rally contrasted with the sentiment in
Congress, where support for Israel is overwhelming and bipartisan. By a vote
of 410 to 8, the House last month expressed "strong support’’ for Israel and
condemned Hezbollah and Hamas for armed attacks on Israeli territory. The
Senate approved a similar resolution by voice vote.

President Bush was at his ranch in Crawford, Tex., winding up a 10-day
vacation. He was due back at the White House on Sunday.

At the rally on Saturday, the prevailing sentiments were expressed in signs
held aloft by marchers: "Occupation is a crime — Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine."
"Stop Israeli terrorism." "No justice, no peace.’’

Brian Becker, national coordinator of a coalition called Act Now to Stop War
and End Racism, a sponsor of the rally, asserted that President Bush had
given Israel a green light to crush Hezbollah in Lebanon, then "sent cluster
bombs to the Israeli Defense Forces to kill Lebanese children.’’ Israel has
asked the Bush administration to speed delivery of rockets armed with
cluster munitions, which could be used to strike Hezbollah missile sites in
Lebanon, and a senior American official said this week that the request was
likely to be approved.

Several speakers at the rally criticized Mr. Bush for mentioning the
religious background of those arrested this week in a plot to blow up
airplanes flying from Britain to the United States. Mr. Bush said the plot
showed that "this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any
means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation.’’

Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society Freedom
Foundation, said Mr. Bush owed Muslims an apology. "There is no Islamic
fascism,’’ Mr. Bray said. "There is no doctrine of fascism in Islam.’’

Esam Omesh, president of the Muslim American Society, said,

"We all stand united against the violence

and the killing in the holy land.’’

Ramsey Clark, the former attorney general, drew cheers when he said, "We
have a solemn obligation to impeach President Bush.’’ Mr. Clark, who has
served on the defense team for Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq,
also advocated the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense
Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

Two students from George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. — Ali Khan, 28, a
Pakistani-American, and his wife, Afnan Khan, 22, who was born in the United
States to Iraqi parents — were less strident. They said they were protesting
the death of civilians, especially Lebanese children.

"They are all innocent,’’ Mr. Khan said.

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See the attached rally photos, from across the United States, this past
weekend: