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Bwog paid a visit to Low Steps this frigid Monday morning to see the Solidarity with Israel Rally at the Sundial. As reported earlier, the official pro-Gaza rally has been canceled due to the fact that the group never had Low secured as a venue for a demonstration. Head of LionPAC Jacob Shapiro began the Israel rally by thanking those who made the event possible as campus security mulled about and group of Palestinian supporters grew across from the sundial at the bottom of the Steps.Those in the crowd of Israel-supporters held signs reading “Hamas is a terrorist organization” and “we support a sustainable ceasefire” while the group of Palestinian-flag-waving Columbians stood quietly on the Steps.
The rally seemed like “the fight of the flags,” as a fellow Bwogger put it – the 80-member group of Israel supporters, all supplied with flags being passed out by event coordinators, while the 30-ish group of Palestine supporters unfurled large flags and held them over their heads. A group in the middle of the two rallies held a huge cardboard sign, and a member told us of their hope for a “constructive dialogue.”
Still, the scene could be best summed up by a young man trotting down Low Steps, who took it all in and muttered to his friend: “this is awkward.”
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21 Comments
@interesting http://commentariat.specblogs.com/index.php/2009/01/26/todays-pro-israel-lionpac-rally/
a well-written piece on what the lionPAC rally looked like to everyone else who doesn’t staunchly support Israel’s every move.
@John All I’m saying is give peace a chance.
@... i think we need to install big giant air conditioners in the middle east so everyone can just chill…
@wow youre all such noble people
@Agree with 1 I had to walk past the demonstrations this morning and was completely amazed at the ignorance and hate being pushed by both sides.
@Independent perspective Was I the only one picking up on the blatant sexual tensions between the two groups? The way they were waving their flags at each-other…, the looks some of the grad-students were casting at the Zionists… What we saw today wasn’t a show-down, it was foreplay. “Awkward” hardly does the situation justice. Seriously, get a room!!!
@person At least they didn’t schedule a country in the same place, that would have been really embarrassing.
@hey YO DAWG WE PUT A COUNTRY IN UR COUNTRY SO YOU CAN RULE WHILE U RULE
@Xzibit A win.
@Grammarian be best summed up BY a young man
@concerned student What happened today at the sundial was disturbing. Regardless of whether or not Israel was justified in its invasion, there is something very wrong about people clapping and cheering and waving flags in favor of a war that has already killed more than 1300 people. Show some respect for the dead, and if you support a war, express your support it with remorse, reluctance, and pity for the victims, not applause.
@Militarizing a state to the extent that Israel is militarized and a people to the extent that certain pro-Israel Jewish New Yorkers have been militarized since they were small children has certain consequences.
@yes i completely agree.
@you are self-righteous the word ‘peace’ was in the title of the event. they rallied in support of a state and its people, not explicitly for the war.
stop ascribing inhuman motivations to people you disagree with, you dumb fuck
@curious why do all pro-Israeli comments on this forum end up being aggressive, abusive and angry.
@because they are bitter unfulfilled people deep down inside and need to put people down (or kill them) in order to feel better about themselves :)
@before i get flamed,that was a joke by the way. reading that again that came off as too offensive. sorry.
@Are you kidding me? That must have been a freshman that described the scene as “awkward”. That isn’t awkward at CU, it par for the course. There is nothing that makes me feel more at home at CU than a bunch of jackasses scheduling dueling protests on the steps. And the long held modus operandi of CU interests groups continues: READY! FIRE! AIM!!!!!!
@Alum08 Right now, all I’m hoping for is that it doesn’t turn out as gruesome as the last Israel/Palestine demonstration…
(someone threw a stone from one group to the other and a fight broke out)
@a stone, huh? i wonder which group was more likely to have thrown that
@What a pathetic emblem of the backwardness of this conflict. Two groups of people willing to support mass murderers in the name of a bunch of stupid flags and antiquated land claims.