Protesters Stage Demonstration Outside Israeli Consulate In Chicago
(CBS) – With the fighting in the Middle East escalating protesters are taking their complaints to Chicago's Israeli consulate.
CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports.
Two members of the Christian Peacemaker team were arrested as they knelt inside the lobby of the building that houses Israel's consulate in Chicago.
They never got close to the consul general's office, and the diplomat wasn't even aware they'd been arrested.
The names of more than 200 Palestinian men women and children killed in the last few weeks were read aloud outside a downtown office building. Some of their pictures were on signs, and Flowers were placed outside the building in their memory.
A song of lamentation was sung that they hoped might be heard by Israel's Consul General, who has an office in the building.
"War inevitably just creates the environment for more terrorism and more war," says Ross Hyman of Jewish Voices for Peace.
Israel's top diplomat in Chicago says the Christian Peacemaker team that organized the march was misguided in its target selection.
"Had there been an office of Hamas in Chicago, I think this would have been the right place to hold such a protest," Consul General Roey Gilad said.
But organizers say 268 Palestinians have been killed compared to just two Israelis.
Gilad says Israel regrets causing any civilian deaths and believes Hamas is largely to blame for using its own people as human shields.
Hamas fighters have been launching about 100 rockets a day against Israel. But most of those have been stopped by Israel's missile defense system.