Images of a Demonstration By Linda Torres, April 16, 2002 As fighting continued to rage between the Israeli army and Palestinian terrorists, a hundred thousand pro-Israel demonstrators from across the country converged at the U.S. Capitol on April 15 to express solidarity with the Jewish state and support for America's global war on terror. The rally has been called the largest pro-Israel demonstration in U.S. history. The warm weather and blue sky was a harbinger of the successful events of the day. As we approached Union Station in downtown Washington, DC, we could see hundreds of people streaming to the Capitol. They were coming from every direction. We left our car at the parking garage behind the train station, and as we passed through the station hundreds more people came from the trains. We were right on time and the closer we came to Capitol the more we felt the press of the enclosing crowd. So many people with their posters in hand and waving blue and white and red, white, and blue flags. Nothing could prepare me though for the sight on the lawn in front of the Capitol! Everywhere I looked there were people--thousands it looked like. We headed to the back of the crowd--the lawn was already full. They were just beginning the ceremonies with Hatikva, Israel’s National Anthem, and then the US National Anthem. We finally chose a spot outside of the fenced lawn on the driveway that was also crowded with people. There were families, student groups, religious Jews in their black suits, tzit-tzit, kippahs, old people, young people, and babies in strollers. We stood near the large speakers so we could hear all that would be said. Although we could not distinguish the faces of the speakers we could still see the speakers’ platform at the steps of the front of the Capitol. Then the guest speakers began. The list was distinguished: Janet Parshall, Natan Sharansky, Elie Weisel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Michael Melchior, Rudolf Guiliani, Paul Wolfowitz, George Pataki, Dick Armey, Dick Gephardt, Mortimer Zuckerman, Arlen Specter, Barbara Mikulski, and Bill Bennett to name a few! Each speaker was energetic and sounded glad to be there. Some of the speakers kept to the directed agenda of balance between peace and safety for the Israelis and the establishment of a state for the Palestinian Arabs. But Janet Parshall, a Christian broadcaster in the DC area, and Bill Bennett, Reagan’s Secretary of Education, were at ease in making the emphatic point that the land of Israel belongs to the Jews and that Jerusalem should not be divided. The Israeli speakers were able to communicate the pain involved in living in the conditions that the Israelis are living with now -- the torture of trying to live a normal life in a situation that is macabre, filled with fear, and painful. They seemed to want their Diaspora counterparts to understand that the Israeli situation is horrible and intolerable and although the Israelis are tolerating it, they want someone to understand that it is difficult. They were reaching out as Israelis do but with the only emotion they could possibly have left--pain. It was a stark contrast to the earlier mechanical speeches of the "even handed" proponents that maintain that the US feels Israel’s pain because the US lost the World Trade Center. Soon after Mr. Netanyahu’s speech, which seemed to last a little longer than most of the others, the crowd began to disperse. The gathering began like fingers of smoke curling into a massive cloud only to retreat and fade into nothing once the energy was spent. I am a Gentile Christian and the sign I carried reflected that position and also that I love and support Israel. For all the good speeches, in spite of the bad speeches and even above the purpose of the whole event the best part of the demonstration for me and the images I will see in my mind forever are those of the faces of the Jews that walked by me and said shyly, very simply, an almost whispered, "Thank you."
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