Jan 11, 2009 10:54 pm US/Pacific
Pro-Israel Rally Held At Westwood Federal Building
WESTWOOD
A crowd estimated by police at 1,600 people rallied today outside the Federal Building in Westwood in support of Israel's incursion into Gaza, a day after a similarly sized pro-Palestinian rally was held at the same venue.
"Hamas is a terrorist group; they're hiding amongst civilians," said Roz Rothstein, head of Stand With Us, which organized the rally. "They do their dirty work amongst civilians and the group here (at the rally) understands that. All of these people understand that children should not be used a human shields. Israel fights back. They have to fight back a group that is so cowardly they hide among the women and children."
About 50 to 100 supporters of the Palestinians also showed up, but the two sides did not clash.
"Israelis are bombing women and children in Gaza," said counter- demonstrator Idris Traina. "Civilians have no protection. They don't have an army. They're just without anything -- no food, no medicine, and no nothing. No electricity. And now (Israel) is bombing Hamas because they think Hamas has some rockets. The fact is that the people in Gaza have been under oppression for 60 years."
Another counter-demonstrator said Israel was trying to take the Palestinians' land.
"They're bombing because they want the land," said Shahid Barz. "They want more land. They're bombing in schools. There are kids in the schools. They're bombing in the mosques. Mosques are there for prayer. Israel has high technology to watch the ground. The United States media doesn't really show what is happening over in Gaza."
One person was detained, reportedly for standing on a trashcan.
However, the rally was mostly peaceful, said Officer Karen Smith of the Los Angeles Police Department.
The protest occurred 16 days after Israel launched air and artillery attacks, followed by a ground incursion into Gaza, in response to unguided missiles fired by Hamas at the Jewish state. The militant Islamic group, which was elected by Palestinians to head their government, has never accepted the right of Israel to exist.
More than 800 Palestinians, many of them civilians, have been killed in the violence, but Israeli authorities also said the number of rocket attacks on Israel has been reduced.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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