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Tension escalated between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine demonstrators in Kirkland, Washington on Sunday, leading to chaos. The videos are graphic.
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) held a rally in New York City’s Times Square on Sunday in support of the Palestinian terror group Hamas and its attack on Israel.
Should Israel not have the right to defend itself following the brutal attack by Hamas?
Be informed, not misled.
Chaos in Kirkland.
KOMO News reported yesterday that "Tension escalated between pro-Israel and pro-Palestine demonstrators in Kirkland on Sunday."
Kirkland was once a quiet little village on Lake Washington, living under the shadow of bigger brother Bellevue. It is the place where Marjorie and I brought our firstborn child home to our little cottage.
It's where our two-year-old fed the ducks stale bread.
This was before "Kirkland" was a brand name at Costco, Bellevue did not yet know the word "Microsoft," and Jeff Bezos was dreaming of what college he might attend someday when he grew up.
On Sunday, hundreds of people rallied off Third Street and Central Way in Kirkland over the conflict in the Middle East, and police moved in quickly to separate the two groups.
“You’re murderers! You’re supporting murderers! Shame on you and your family!” one pro-Israeli demonstrator says in a witness video.
“We have a permit for this protest. They have not been peaceful,” said Yuself Mahmoud, a pro-Palestine demonstrator.
KOMO says:
He claims to be the man in a witness video seen falling to the ground, allegedly attacked, he said, for being a Palestinian supporter.
“Jumped by five people. They attempted and tried to kick me in the face,” he added, saying he plans to file a police report.
Moments later, the footage shows yelling escalate between protesters on both sides, some face to face, before police separate them.
Mahmoud said their organized protest came in response to Israel declaring war to retaliate against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
But across the street, people held Israeli flags, keeping a tight grip on pictures of civilians, including children, they said were among those killed in the terror attack on the Jewish state.
“I have a lot of friends who were injured, parents of friends who were murdered, slaughtered,” Omer Lichdig said.
He said he missed the physical confrontation here but stayed standing for Israel as he remains in constant communication with his immediate family he said is safe in Tel Aviv.
Journalist Jackie Kent posted this video of the chaos, warning it has graphic content.
Warning: graphic content. Video given to us shows clash between Israeli and Palestinian protesters in #Kirkland following Hamas attack on Israel pic.twitter.com/IxagI5k3A9
— Jackie Kent (@JackieKentNews) October 9, 2023
Chaos on the other coast.
The attack occurred on the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret, the last festival of the High Holy Day cycle. More than 100 Israelis were also kidnapped to Gaza — including women, children, and the elderly, many of whom were abused during their abductions.
I was disappointed but not surprised to see that the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) counts four Democrats from the US Congress as members of the organization---and all four were out in the streets of New York rallying against Israel---in the city that was attacked by terrorists just two decades ago.
They are Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Rashida Tlaib (MI), Jamaal Bowman (NY), and Cori Bush (MO).
The New York Post cover showed a demonstrator holding a Swastika---reminding Jews of the Holocaust.
Today's cover: Security heightened at NYC synagogues, Jewish sites in wake of Hamas attack on Israel https://t.co/h2kUgFJjnN pic.twitter.com/s8bfikRUhV
— New York Post (@nypost) October 9, 2023
The Post said, "At least 260 people were killed in a “massacre’’ at an Israeli music fest, which included Israeli officers getting blown away while acting as human shields and hostages having their legs shot so they couldn’t run, survivors say.
Graphic new images include a photo of scores of dead lying in a tent at the rave, which turned into bloody mayhem after heavily armed Palestinian terrorists paraglided across the Gaza Strip border in Saturday’s early morning sneak attack on Israel.
Video showed the unsuspecting crowd earlier dancing to music as the terrorists could be seen coming down in the distance on motorized paragliders.
The disturbing photos posted online by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs also show people who were gunned down in the street while fleeing the Tribe of Nova music festival near Gaza, while one snapshot captures a bloodied hostage loaded in the back of a Hamas vehicle.
The bodies found at the site number at least 260, CNN reported, citing Israel’s rescue service Zaka.
As he hid, Tamir, an Israeli who was attending the concert, said he recalled the screams of the wounded howling in pain, as well as those of two of his friends, whom he could hear being kidnapped and beaten.
He added that some of the kidnapped people had their legs shot, so they could not resist or escape.
Tamir also claimed that Hamas terrorists were masquerading as IDF (Israeli police) rescue forces during the bloodbath, tricking Israelis into thinking they were running toward their saviors only to be gunned down.
“I didn’t stop praying,” Tamir said of the horrific experience. “It is a miracle we got out of there without a scratch.”
“We debated whether or not to share these horrific images, but the world needs to know what we are up against,” the ministry said in a statement.
I've chosen not to publish some of those photos here on our site because they are too graphic. However, they are included in the links above.
Why does the Left so violently hate Israel?
Interestingly, Victor Davis Hanson has said, "Why are there no demonstrations in major Western cities damning the Chinese government for putting one million Muslim Uighurs in camps? Why are the world’s millions of former refugees – the Volga Germans, the East Prussians, the Cypriot Greeks – long forgotten, and yet the Palestinians alone are deified for being perpetually displaced?
Our formal NATO ally, Turkey, received little global pushback for its treatment of the Kurds, or its frequent intolerance of religious minorities. Why does Israel alone always earn such venom?
Hating democratic Israel while it is under attack is not just a reflection of the new woke and ethically bankrupt left. It is also a symptom of a deeper pathology in the West, one of moral equivalence, amoral relativism, and self-loathing.
Hating Israel has become the surrogate Western way of hating oneself.
But it's deeper than that.
Takeaway
The world that hates Israel hates the God of Israel--the God of the Bible.
Although Jerusalem is a relatively small city in this tiny sliver of land, it will play a key role in the events of the last days.
It’s the focal point of end times events. It’s amazing when you think about it because in Zechariah 12:3–4, God says, “I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves” (NLT).
Pastor Greg Laurie said this yesterday:
What should Christians be doing in the light of all this? Two things.
Jesus said, “Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads because your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28 NKJV). That’s what we need to be doing, looking for the soon return of Jesus Christ.
But we also need to pray. The Bible tells us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6). We want to pray that they arrive at some kind of peace. We want to pray that this horrific terrorism stops, and that they’re able to get their hostages back. And we want to pray that God places His hand of protection on the nation of Israel during this unprecedented war.
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.