Page One

A bombed-out Israeli bus brought to Berkeley as part of a rally to address “global terrorism” drew hundreds of spectators to Martin Luther King Jr. Park Sunday. It also drew protesters who called the display propagandistic, one-sided and anathema to peace. 

The factions at the event exchanged heated words and a few moments of violence. 

Sponsored by the Israeli Action Committee of the East Bay, the bus was on display for most of the afternoon while various speakers addressed a crowd on the lawn behind the city offices. Across the street, protesters gathered in front of the Old City Hall.  

“It does not reflect the situation [in the Middle East], it only shows one side,” said Ayman Badr, gesturing to the burnt hulk of the bus. Around Badr, protesters waved Palestinian flags and shouted at supporters of the event who waved Israeli flags and gathered at the edge of the park to shout back. 

Badr held a sign with a gruesome picture of a disfigured Palestinian woman that read “this used to be a woman.” He said the bus rally only focused on the Israeli death toll. 

“We need this to show that it happens to Palestinians as well,” he said. “I am against killing innocent people,” referring to deaths on both sides.  

“I felt it was important to bring the bus here because many people in Berkeley are blasé about terror,” said Dan Kilman, a San Francisco resident. “Many people don’t think it can happen here.” 

A few yards away from Badr, hundreds of protesters gathered in a silent vigil, holding signs with the names and pictures of Palestinian children killed in the conflict. According to Barbara Lubin, the director of the Middle East Children’s Alliance, the vigil was meant to show that people on both sides of the conflict are dying. 

“We are here because we mourn the loss of all children and we thought it was important to bring their names and sometimes pictures because they are the ones that are invisible,” she said.  

Although MECA requested that people participating in the vigil restrain from engaging with people at the event, Lubin said she understood why some of the protesters decided to speak up. 

“They are kids, they are Palestinians, it’s their families who have felt the brutality of the occupation,” she said. “We welcome them on this side of the street.” 

While protesters kept to their side of the street during the majority of the event, a small group gathered at one corner of the park to confront the people waving Israeli and American flags. A yelling match ensued but Berkeley police broke it up and protesters crossed back.  

Later in the afternoon, another small group of protesters with Palestinian flags marched towards the bus rally. They were immediately confronted, while the Berkeley police rushed to get between the two sides. Several people again engaged in yelling matches, and at one point punches were thrown. 

The police wrestled a 14-year-old wearing a kaffiyeh—a traditional checkered scarf worn in the Middle East—to the ground and handcuffed him. They also handcuffed one of the event supporters who wore a kippah, a traditional Jewish religious hat. Both were taken to the police station.  

Small arguments continued throughout the rest of the event but police did not interfere. 

Susanne DeWitt said she was happy the event had a good turnout. Concerning the protesters, she said she was ignoring them. 

“How silly can you be, even in Berkeley,” she said, criticizing what she said was the inability of the protesters to understand that the real meaning of the event was to protest “global terrorism.” 

“I’m sick of children being killed on both sides,” said Liana Hail, from Santa Cruz. “But I believe that Israel has the right to exist.” 

She held a sign which read “Some Palestinians Are Terrorists.”  

Jim Hutcheson, the director of the Jerusalem Connection (formerly known as Christians for Israel) which owns the bus, said he expected the protest. He also criticized the protesters’ argument by claiming that there “is no such thing as a Palestinian people.” 

By 3:30 p.m., most people had dissipated. A group of the protesters waited next to the rear gate of the police station to receive the boy who had been handcuffed during the confrontation. When he finally came out, his friends greeted him with hugs. According to the boy, the police did not charge him with anything. 

Nadine Ghammache, who participated in the silent vigil, walked away still shocked by the display. 

“It’s dishonest,” she said. “Because if they are really concerned about peace, they would also bring uprooted [Palestinian] olive trees. Can they even bring a bulldozed home? What is so painful is that people are being caught in that one-sidedness. It keeps all the groups caught in a cycle of violence.” 

?