Phoenix Oct 20, 2000 06:13 PM
Palestinian-Americans angry over the reported American support of the Israeli military demonstrated Friday in front of the Federal Court Building in downtown Phoenix.
"We are here to tell the U.S. to stop helping the government that is committing genocide against our people," said Marwan Ahmad, one of the organizers of the demonstration.
Nearly 300 people flanked First Avenue holding placards reading "Zionism is Racism" and "Stop the Killing of Palestinians," to call attention to what they say is U.S. aid to Israel and to the Palestinian plight in the Mideast where more than 100 people have been killed and more than 2,000 people have been injured in three weeks of fighting.
The United States is contributing to the killing, said Hafez Turk, another organizer, by funneling billions of tax dollars into Israel's military.
An employee of the Federal Court Building who agreed to speak on anonymity said that the protest on Friday, which was supposed to be the first day of a truce agreed upon by Israeli and Palestinian leaders, was the second peaceful Palestinian protest in front of the court building in the past week.
Ahmad said Valley protesters were part of a larger national effort being staged in other cities throughout the country including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. He said that nearly one million people are expected to rally Oct. 28 in Washington D.C. for a one million person march to bring awareness to the problem in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.