Audio By Carbonatix
The long war over Gaza played out in miniature down at Dealey Plaza Friday, with supporters of Israel and Palestine facing off across Elm Street, separated by rush hour traffic and a temporary fence. Hundreds of people turned up around 6 p.m. in a show of support for the nine Turkish activists killed trying to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza a week ago.
It was just one a handful of rallies around the world that went off simultaneously, promoted by Viva Palestina, a group that organizes convoys meant to break the blockade. After a call to the rally went out over YouTube, some local synagogues organized a smaller counter-protest.
On the pro-Palestine side, a parade of speakers, including folks from the Dallas Peace Institute, the League of United Latin American Citizens and Rev. Charles Stovall Munger Place United Methodist Church, took a measured tone, riffing on pacifism, policy and human rights and offering support like.
Along the police barricade at the sidewalk’s edge, though, emotions ran hotter. A few Palestinian supporters yelled “Killers of the prophets!” and “Go back to your country!” A speech by the Dallas Peace Center’s Rev. Diane Baker was interrupted by a voice from a loudspeaker the pro-Israel side yelling, “How dare you use the words of the Jewish Messiah in the presence of those who worship a false god.”
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After about an hour of the speeches and yelling, and a memorial prayer for the activists who were killed, the rally ended with a march to Memorial Park. Here’s a slide show with more shots from the rally.
