From the WSJ Opinion Archives
NEW YORK DISPATCH BROOKLYN, N.Y.--A few minutes from Ground Zero, the Arab street came out on Friday. A few hundred Muslims marched up Atlantic Avenue and rallied in front of Borough Hall. They said they meant to pressure President Bush and other officials to force Israel to stand down.
But it looked more like a pro-terror hate rally. Protesters held signs reading "Israel Occupation = Terrorism," "Occupation = Violence" and "Declare Jahad [sic]," among others. More than one held a sign with the Star of David, an equal sign and a swastika. Yasser Arafat, their signs made clear, is their "hero."
Israel, of course, is the enemy. And the protestors were particularly upset that American foreign aid goes to this "rogue state." One man outside Borough Hall yelled that Israel "is no different than apartheid South Africa"--an ironic comparison, given that the protest itself was segregated. As the procession made its way up Atlantic Avenue, the men walked together chanting "Free, free Palestine" and other slogans, while the women and children brought up the rear, 20 or so feet behind the men. At Borough Hall too, the men gathered in front, women and children kept to the back.
This is pure propaganda. In fact, the Israeli Defense Forces are holding up ambulances only when Palestinian sniper fire makes it unsafe to go down certain streets, or to search them for explosives. More than one ambulance has been found to be carrying weapons as well as explosives for suicide missions. As for the Israelis using civilians as shields, the boldness of this assertion is impressive. But the Israeli soldiers wear uniforms to identify clearly who is a combatant, while suicide bombers, who hide among civilians as they plot and execute their attacks, operate under more barbaric rules.
Not surprisingly, no one, not in the brochures I was handed or the speakers I heard, condemned the acts of Arab barbarism that have killed hundreds of Jewish civilians. No one mentioned the slaughter of 27 Israelis at a Passover Seder, which prompted Ariel Sharon to deploy his troops. Or recognition that Arafat and many Palestinians are responsible for at least some level of violence.
The second sheet was even more bizarre. It was a lengthy open letter to President Bush. It claimed Israel is engaging in a comprehensive conspiracy that involves listening to nearly every phone call made inside the U.S. The Israelis, it explains, are using this information to blackmail all federal officials in high office and the national media. "Few indeed are the people in America who do not have something to hide. That insider trade, the brief but torrid affair, the stolen votes, the deliberate smear, the role one played in an assassination, the acceptance of money from drug runners." Everyone in high office and the media is guilty of such a transgression, apparently. It offers Bill Clinton and the Starr Report as evidence. In short, because Americans are so depraved, the Jews are able to control them.
The letter also says the evidence against Osama bin Laden is "circumstantial, often self-contradictory, and in some cases faked." The real culprit behind Sept. 11 is Israel, but that information is being suppressed through this blackmail scheme. The letter is signed "Best Regards, Alexander James."
Another complained it "cut off all the parking. Destroys your business." Another man I saw didn't know what was going on, so he asked one of the many cops.
"A protest for free Palestine," the man in blue responded.
"Free Palestine! What kind of nonsense? All the taxpayer money that went to make this possible. Isn't this ridiculous?"
To which the cop responded: "I can't comment in uniform."
Mr. Miniter is assistant editor of OpinionJournal.com.
Brooklyn's 'Arab Street'
A hate rally, just minutes from Ground Zero.
BY BRENDAN MINITER
Monday, April 8, 2002 12:01 a.m. EDT
