April 7, 2002	Sunday	Muharram 23, 1423

NEW YORK, April 6: Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters took to the streets in New York, Stockholm, Sydney and several other European cities on Friday and Saturday, demanding an end to Israel’s military offensive.

From New York’s Times Square to Brooklyn borough hall to Patterson, New Jersey, several thousand people came out on the streets on Friday to protest Israel’s military action in Palestine and condemn US foreign policy in the region.

Chanting “Free Palestine” and “Down with Israel”, the demonstrators marched from Times Square to the United Nations building and in front of the Israeli mission.

Protesters marched along Broadway carrying Palestinian flags. Others displayed Israeli flags with swastikas drawn on them. They compared Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to Hitler of Nazi Germany.

The afternoon was one of fiery speeches and raw emotion, as a mix of people — college students, elderly homemakers, businessmen, children — took to the streets, most screaming, and some even crying, for their side.

“Today, we are all Palestinians,” shouted Larry Holmes, a member of the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, or ANSWER coalition. Several orthodox Jewish rabbis who are against Israel’s occupation of Palestine joined in the demonstrations as it swelled from 500 to several thousand, surprising the New York police department.

At several rallies in northern New Jersey, protesters chanted and carried signs with slogans like “Stop the Massacre” and “Stop Killing Our Children.”

One American woman decrying the label of terrorist given to Palestinians said, “A terrorist to me is like Osama bin Laden — he comes out of his country to destroy other countries.” She added. “But how can you be called a terrorist for defending your own country? These people are facing tanks. They have faced jets and planes and rockets. What do you expect them to do? You tell me. The Palestinian man is living dead, so what does he have to do? Destroy himself in the end.”

“These are the children who are going to have to carry out whatever agreements are negotiated today,” she said, referring to the youngest protesters.

“In order for there to be peace, the message has to filter down to children. There has to be a culture of peace, not a culture of hate.”

Several hundred Muslims and Jews faced off at a rally in Teaneck, New Jersey, but the protests were peaceful, police said. In Jersey City, New Jersey, about 300 people gathered at Journal Square.

SYDNEY: A small group of pro-Palestinian protesters tried to force their way into the Israeli consulate in Sydney on Saturday and burned makeshift Israeli and US flags during a protest against Israel’s offensive, add agencies.

Mounted police drove the group of about 30 angry protesters back after they tried to charge the entrance of an office building housing the Israeli consulate-general in central Sydney.

STOCKHOLM: Thousands of people marched through central Stockholm on Saturday to prote