CHICAGO TRIBUNE
by Juan Perez Jr
July 22, 2014

Supporters of Israel [StandWithUs Midwest sponsored] and backers of Palestinians each staged demonstrations downtown Tuesday afternoon over the conflict in Gaza thousands of miles away.

A crowd of pro-Israel demonstrators, many toting the blue-and-white flag of the Jewish state, gathered in front of Chicago’s Israeli consulate on Madison Street for what organizers billed as a noontime call for peace.

Across the intersection of Madison and Canal streets, a large group of Palestinian supporters gathered with a public-address system and flags of their own. Two days earlier, thousands on that side of the conflict marched downtown to protest Israeli military action in Gaza. A phalanx of police personnel — uniformed and plainclothes, federal and local — kept a close watch on the scene and the two groups were kept separate with steel gates, bicycle-mounted officers and cruisers.

Officers searched the bags of pro-Israel demonstrators as they arrived at the rally, while a string of equine patrol officers ringed part of the pro-Palestinian side. Police K-9 units moved through the protesters, amid the blare of sirens, chanting and helicopters hovering overhead.

“I’m Israeli. I support my country, and I want to stop any aggression from Hamas,” said Alex Paz of Chicago, who was among the many demonstrators calling for an end to the conflict. “If I knew how to stop it, I would probably be prime minister,” Paz said. “My opinion is it should be stopped, instead of being scared of missiles at night.”

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