Hundreds on both sides of Israel-Palestinian divide rally in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO -- Dueling demonstrators faced off outside the Israeli consulate in downtown San Francisco Sunday over violence in Israel.
The Pro-Palestinian rally called "All Out for Palestine" came a day after Hamas launched a surprise attack that killed hundreds in Israel.
"I am Jewish and I am ashamed of what Israel is doing to the people of Palestine. I was in Palestine a month ago. I saw for myself how the Palestinians are being oppressed," said El Cerrito resident Seth Morrison.
Morrison held a sign that read "Jews for Palestinian Liberation."
Impassioned protesters carrying signs and flags on both sides yelled "free Palestine" and "free Israel."
San Francisco police officers in riot gear carrying barriers kept the two groups separate as tensions rose.
"Violence won't solve anything but, when our people are oppressed, when they're held in the conditions of Gaza like they're in prison, how can you blame them? Many of us have been saying that the Palestinians are going to rise up and you cannot expect them to sit on their hands," Morrison said.
San Francisco resident J Conr said he wanted to show support for his Jewish friends.
"It's abhorrent. It's terrible. There's no reason why anybody on vacation -- having a party -- should have to be kidnapped. Hostage, raped and murdered and beaten. It's just shocking and the fact that we're still even arguing Jewish existence in 2023 is pretty shocking to me," he said.
Both sides marched in different directions after the rival rallies.
"The unfortunate thing is: If we were to move forward, they'd have to resolve the problems out there first because, obviously, out here you can see there's two different degrees of anger and frustration," Conr said.
"What I would like to tell them that our Jewish tradition is one of peace, is one of coexistence and we'll only have peace when we respect the rights of all human beings," Morrison said.