Danit Ariel (left), who works for the
USC Hillel Jewish Center and the Jewish Campus Service Corps
Fellows, joins supporters in a rally for Israel at the Federal
Building.
By Dexter Gauntlett
Daily Bruin Staff
Protesters waving Israeli flags flooded the sidewalk outside the
Federal Building in Westwood as bullets and mortars flooded the
West Bank city of Ramallah in the Middle East on Tuesday.
Condemning Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat ““ who has been
confined to his West Bank headquarters for a week by the Israeli
army, which calls him a terrorist ““ protesters occupied four
corners of the Wilshire Boulevard/Veteran Avenue intersection.
The protest followed six suicide bombings in as many days in
Israel. Nearly 4,000 people carried signs that called for
Arafat’s removal and likened the Palestinian Authority
Chairman to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, the
lead suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
“The protest is intended to show the unity of the United
States and Israel in their war on terrorism,” said Alan
Howard, a spokesman for Stand With Us, the group that organized the
protest. The group is dedicated to exposing militant Islamic groups
and leadership and fighting terrorism.
Howard believes that the United States must stop its attempts at
diplomacy and support Israel. He said Bush is not talking to Arafat
in order to avoid giving him credibility as a leader.
Arafat’s character and legitimacy as a leader were
attacked by chanting protesters and honking motorists, some
pledging their support as they drove down Wilshire Boulevard.
One student, who was not at the rally, argued that
Arafat’s true character is only known by those around him,
and at best, Arafat creates a confusing persona in the eyes of
world leaders.
“Arafat was supposedly on the U.S. terrorist list one day
and then wins the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize the next day,” said
Omar Farha, a fourth-year chemistry student.
The award was also given to Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin, both
prime ministers of Israel that year and who were also integral to
the Middle East peace process in the early 1990s.
Farha, whose family lives in Ramallah, said he hates to see
innocent civilians killed on both sides.
 Israel born Pete Sayegh joins Tuesday’s
rally in Westwood to "show solidarity" in the Israeli/Palestinian
conflict overseas
“I don’t think peace will be achieved until both
Israel and the Palestinians change their leaders,” Farha
said.
Amir Kohan, a first-year political science student at the
protest, said Arafat is not acting in the best interest of his
people and is not doing enough to stop terrorism.
“If you’re not part of the solution, you’re
part of the problem,” he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has accused Arafat of not
doing enough to stop terrorism and that he was avoiding arresting
leaders of the terrorist organizations.
This idea echoed throughout the Wilshire corridor as protesters
chanted “Ar-a-fat Terr-or-ist.”
But some felt the recent escalation in suicide bombings, paired
with Arafat’s confinement, provided proof that Arafat was in
fact clean of terrorist affiliation.
“If anything, this shows that Arafat is not involved with
these terrorist groups,” Farha said.
“And how do you expect Arafat to stop terrorism while
being confined to two rooms in his compound without
electricity?” he continued.
Direct talk between the leaders has not happened, but Arafat
rejected Sharon’s offer for “permanent exile” and
asked, “˜”˜Is it his homeland or ours?
“We were planted here before the prophet Abraham came, but
it looks like (Israelis) don’t understand history or
geography,” Arafat said, adding that he would rather be a
martyr than go into exile.
Al-Fatah, the organization Arafat founded in 1959, claimed
responsibility for some of last week’s attacks in Israel.
Ronen Brown, who was at the protest, said he personally feels
for the Palestinians, adding that not all Jews hate Palestinians.
The main problem fueling the conflict is lack of education in
Palestine and parents who encourage their children to become
suicide bombers, he said.
“They think they are martyrs and are celebrated in the
media,” he said.
Gage Sandy, chair for the Jewish Community Relations Committee
in Los Angeles, said the rally helped to show that Jews in America
support both Israel and the United States in their wars on
terrorism.
Sandy considers Arafat, Hussein and bin Laden as “three of
a kind.”
Though Sandy said the protest was useful for uniting
U.S.-Israeli relations, Fahra said a more powerful protest would
have included Palestinians and Israelis united in a call for
peace.
“We need to stop placing blame. With each side blaming
each other, it’s a never ending cycle,” he said.
The United States and Israel have been allies since the 1960s,
when a series of wars led the United States to support Israel with
arms against other Middle Eastern countries supported by the Soviet
Union.
 The Associated Press Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat in Ramallah Tuesday.
The United States has allocated billions of dollars in support
of Israel over the past decade and is often criticized for funding
the Israeli army, which is now one of the strongest in the
world.
Recently, some Israeli diplomats have criticized the United
States for not being tougher on Palestinian terrorism due to the
possibility of angering Middle Eastern countries crucial to the
U.S. war on terrorism.
Also, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright criticized
the Bush Administration Tuesday for not being more involved in the
months leading up to and during the infiltration of the Ramallah
compound. A U.S. peace envoy led by the head of Central Command for
the U.S. Military, Anthony Zinni, despite being stationed in
Israel, has had little success in curbing violence since arriving
months ago.
Secretary of State Colin Powell has also faced criticism for not
being a presence in the area. He maintains he will make a trip to
the Middle East when there is more to work with.
With reports from The Associated Press.