Gaza Protesters Gather Near Obama's Home -- Citizens for Legitimate Gov't Report

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Link to Original here: http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/01/gaza-protesters-gather-near-obamas-home.html

Joining a growing number of demonstrations worldwide, protesters marched today in President-elect Barack Obama's South Side neighborhood to voice their opposition to Israel's strikes against Gaza.

Nearly three dozen demonstrators walked in front of police barricades a few blocks from Obama's Kenwood home, waving a Palestinian flag and chanting anti-war slogans that chastised the United States for manufacturing the bombs and warplanes used by Israel.

At one point during the protest, they screamed and fell to the ground in a theatrical gesture meant to symbolize an airstrike.

"We won't be silent, we won't be tame," they chanted. "No more mass murder in our name."

The protest came as the Israeli military launched a ground offensive Saturday in a widening war on Gaza's Hamas leaders, continuing a weeklong conflict that the Israeli defense minister said "would not be short" or easy.

As the fighting continues, demonstrations have been held across the Western Hemisphere, including a large protest Friday in Chicago in which about 4,000 demonstrated outside the Israeli consulate.

Similar protests were held Saturday in European cities, including a London demonstration in which participants hurled shoes at the iron gates outside the British prime minister's residence.

The demonstrators in Obama's neighborhood never got close enough to the president-elect's home to make such a symbolic gesture. Police officers did not let them loiter in front of the barricades and forced them to keep crossing from one side of the street to the other as traffic signals allowed at 51st Street and Woodlawn Avenue.

Obama was at his transition office in the Loop during the demonstration. He has avoided an official position on Israel's bombing of Gaza or the Palestinian rocket attacks against Israel in the past week.

"This is not about sending a message to Obama," said protester Hank Brown, a South Side resident. "This is about sending a message to the American people, telling them not to be complacent about what's happening in Gaza."

More than 460 people had died and 1,700 had been wounded in the conflict before the ground invasion began Saturday. As the death toll climbs, Palestinian supporters have criticized the president-elect for remaining silent.

"People need to open their eyes," said Susan Jensen of Chicago, attending her fourth protest in six days. "Barack Obama is not a blank slate. He has taken a very positive pro-Israel stance."

--Stacy St. Clair