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TODAY o October 15, 2000
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Metro protesters decry strikes at Palestinians
Saeed Ahmed - Staff
Sunday, October 15, 2000
ATLANTA -- With placards bobbing in the sunlight and chants of "Stop killing our children" punctuating the autumn air, hundreds of Muslims gathered in downtown Atlanta Saturday to express their solidarity with Palestinians in the Middle East and to call for an end to Israeli military strikes against them.
The noisy but orderly demonstration across from the the CNN Center lasted three hours and attracted approximately 300 protestors, most of whom were Arab Americans. Similar protests were held over the weekend in Philadelphia, New York, and Washington D.C.
"We are here because we are frustrated with the way facts are twisted when we talk about Palestinians in this country," said Manal Melhem, a Palestinian-American pharmacist. "All we want is peace but we are being portrayed as violent barbarians."
As newscameras rolled, children, with ketchup-splattered white t-shirts lay on the sidewalks, while a woman in a head scarf held up a sign that said "Shame, shame! Our tax dollars are killing children."
Elsewhere, small boys weaved through the crowd waving oversized Palestinian flags, their voices hoarse from screaming "No justice no peace." Two year-old Rami Hussain sat in his stroller holding a sign that read "Arab kids bleed too."
Many at the rally expressed anger at Israel, blaming the country for the collapse of the peace talks.
"The memories of the Holocaust is still so fresh, there’s no need to repeat it on us," said Rassem Hillou, a restaurant owner. "We have given eight years for testing peace and in return we have less and less of our rights. We may not be chosen but we are still people."
Other demonstrators excoriated American politicians for not understanding the plight of the Palestinians and faulted the U.S. for its continued suport of Israel.
Mohamed Khalifa, an Egyptian-American, said that the three-million strong Arab-American voting bloc is watching closely to see how leaders respond to the current crisis.
"Demonstrations are the only language that politicans understand," he said. "And we want to show them that come November, we will remember what they do now."
He then held up a banner than read, "Gore: We vote, Barak doesn’t."
Navigating her way through the crowd was a lone Jewish woman -- Ilese Cohen, program director for the Middle East peace education program, who was passing out leaflets inviting demonstrators to a dialogue between Muslims and Jews .
"I've had more incredible conversations with the peole here than I've had in all my years working for the program,"she said. "They have opened their hearts and shared their sorrow. And however tragic this recent development in the Middle East is, this might be the opportunity for us to come together and seek some answers."
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