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With the multitude of anti-Israel articles that seem to be proliferating on Instablogs, recently, I feel compelled to show the other side of the issue. The following video is of a pro-Hamas, anti-U.S. demonstration in downtown Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, that took place on December 30, 2008. As hate-filled as it was, they were allowed to protest, because we allow those things in the west, because we value freedom.
To set the stage, there were about 200 to 300 people demonstrating across the street from a Church where there were a few pro-Israel supporters. I’m not sure who showed up first.
Here are a few sound bites from the Palestinians and their supporters:
A young Palestinian woman kept shouting “You loser. Your mother’s whore!” Others, and mostly women in hijab, shouted: “Go back to the oven!! You need a big oven, that’s what you need!!” Another young woman holding a Nuke Israel placard screamed ” Nuke, nuke Israel!!” “There is no Israel!!”. “Go to hell!!”
The irony of it all is that those in front of the Church were probably Christians, many of whom support Israel.
Then an African-American Imam appeared, called the men to prayer, and then spoke to the crowd in Arabic. I have no idea what he said, but it seemed to rile up the crowd, which then attempted to engage the pro-Israeli group in confrontation. You see the police holding them back. Had there been no police, who knows what would have happened. All I know is that the crowd, post speech, seemed very agitated.
There is a short interview with the Imam who states that it is incumbent upon Muslims to try harder to educate people about Islam, “..because once people really understand the real beauty of Islam, they will have no choice but to accept it, because they will realize it’s part of their nature.” Note the words: NO CHOICE BUT TO ACCEPT IT.
The irony of it all is that demonstrations like this do NOT depict Islam in a positive light, and therefore the “beauty” he claims is inherent in the religion certainly is not evident.
RSS 
The Miami Herald reported that
http://m.miamiherald.com/mh/db_501/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=ynOMSzCa :
Taunts, jeers, vulgar gestures and curse words filled the air Sunday afternoon as supporters of both sides in the Gaza conflict waged dueling protests outside the Israeli consulate in downtown Miami.
The crowd swelled to more than 1,000 people lining both sides of Biscayne Boulevard, brandishing Palestinian and Israeli flags. At times, rocks and mostly full water bottles sailed across the four-lane street.
The chants from supporters of Israel: ’'No mas, Hamas’’ and ``There is no Palestine.’’
From the supporters of the Palestinians: ’'Re-free Palestine’’ and ``Occupation is a crime.’’
From the pro-Israeli side: ’'Bomb, bomb Palestine!’’ and, from a few, ``Go back to Israel so we can shoot you!’’
From the pro-Palestinian side: ``Monkeys and pigs!’’
Twelve people were arrested, mostly for misdemeanors but a few on felony charges, said Miami police spokeswoman Kenia Alfonso.
’'For the most part, the arrests that were made were for people acting disorderly,’’ she said.
The Miami protests, which began at about 1 p.
Also, the video that is provided is itself a piece of hatred. The person who is condemning the hateful words of some Muslims is himself a hateful person, he is engaging in scare tactics against American-Muslim and ends the video with the url to an anti-Islam propaganda. He also says, ”more work to do in 2009.” What does that mean? It means he wants to spread more hatred against Muslims and Islam.
I’ve already since this video. The words of some of the Muslims were unfortunate, to put it lightly. But those who engage in hate speech themselves cannot speak with credibility when they themselves mimic such behavior.
Why is anti-Muslim speech allowed and those who champion Islamophobia allowed to present themselves like some paragon of decency?
Further, the photo posted is itself a fraud. Muslim protesters have never held such signs.