Bombed Israeli Bus In MLK Jr. Park
Earlier today was the rally against terrorism featuring a bus that had been blown up by a suicide bomber in Israel. I showed up late enough that I missed the minor excitement of the day, when an apparent protestor of the event got into an argument with someone from the vigil and ended up getting in a fight with him, and the police spokesman confirmed to me there had been one incident of battery, with the person cited and released.

I talked to one of the organizers of the rally, who told me he thought there were about 700 people on the pro-Israel, anti-terrorism, bus vigil side, and a spokesperson from the pro-Palestinian counter-protest (I'm assuming the people protesting the bus weren't actually pro-terrorism, although I imagine some of them had a "the oppressed must resist the occupation by any means necessary" approach) said he thought they had around 200 people. Former Mayor Dean spoke, and there was a statement read on behalf of Mayor Bates.

Here is what the bus looked like:

For the rest of my photographs from the rally, you can see them here, and watch them in a slide show.

KTVU has a report on the rally, with a quotation that I think can serve as a consensus for the majority of the people on both sides of this conflict:

"I oppose terrorism," she said. "Although I believe the Palestinians deserve a state, I don't agree with their means to achieve it. I don't think you should strap bombs on kids and send them out to kill other kids."

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