The crowd gathers for the pro-Israel rally on the capitol steps in Denver.

[LOTS MORE PICTURES AFTER THE JUMP...]

Police presence was surprisingly light, compared to the DNC.

I hope so. But sometimes I wonder.

One of the typical sign themes on the pro-Israel side. Note the distinct absence of hate and anger.

Folk dancers entertaining the crowd before the rally…putting the “Levite” in “levitate”, as it were.

A man with a Koran.

This guy was apparently on the wrong side of the street (given the threadbare anti-war message on the equally threadbare poster, which he probably re-used from the DNC).

And yet…he was allowed to remain, throughout the entire rally, undisturbed by the rally-goers or the safety monitors (one of whom is right behind him, with the white armband).

Singing patriotic songs to counter the mindless chants of “Down! Down! Israel!” and the like blaring hour after hour from PA speakers by the counter-demonstrators.

After an half-hour of the anti-Israel, anti-American yelling coming from the park, I actually felt nostalgic for Recreate 68′s imbecilic chants of “Whose streets? Our streets!” at the DNC.

American flags were in evidence on both sides. But many times more frequent on the pro-Israel side, and none of those had been adulterated or formed part of an anti-American placard.

This guy was handing out pamphlets. I gather the people on the sidewalk weren’t too happy with whatever it was, but despite some harsh words nobody accosted him or even made him stop what he was doing.

I saw several examples of pro-Hamas people trying to provoke the pro-Israel side into reacting — including protestors with Palestinian flags and kaffiyehs strutting through the pro-Israel crowd, or driving along the curb shouting obscenities and waving Palestinian flags at them — but the latter never took the bait.

That’s tolerance for the views of others. Given the anger and thwarted outbursts of violence from the pro-Hamas side, I personally would have thought twice — or more — before attempting the same juvenile antics in the other direction. 

Lots of American flags mingled with the Israeli ones.

Joshua Sharf addresses the rally.

And even more American and Israeli flags (same view, I just liked both pics).

Speaking of thwarted outbursts, the guy in the striped shirt was constantly being restrained by the protest monitors on the other side of the street. They’d get him calmed down, and one or two minutes later he’d be leading off from the sidewalk. It looks as though he is exchanging angry words with someone on the Israel side, but I couldn’t see anyone interacting with him — he just looked mindlessly enraged.

On the other hand, I don’t know how mindless it really was. He would allow himself to be pulled back to the grass again and again, and never got much closer to the pro-Israel side than what you see here even with ample opportunity to do so, so I suspect that it was all just impotent braggadocio.

Tom Tancredo addressing the rally.

Hands down, the most stunningly beautiful woman at either gathering.  What a pity that she was on the wrong side.

She was one of the organizers, judging from the chanting instructions she was giving to the crowd.

A car full of Hamas supporters drag a “blood” stained Israeli flag behind their car while waving a Palestinian flag from the sunroof, in an attempt to provoke the pro-Israeli crowd.

One of the “silver statue” mimes from the 16th Street Mall put on a performance in support of the Hamas cause.

Well, okay…I don’t think this tool is really one of the mimes, but he did stand there in this rigid, silly pose for about fifteen minutes.

I think it was supposed to be intimidating. Or something.

Note that even his fellow Hamas supporters are laughing at him behind his back.

A member of the cast of “Cats” shows her support for Hamas.

Another pro-Hamas supporter taunting the pro-Israel crowd, sashaying through the crowd, smirking and whirling his faux-kaffiyeh scarf around.

Terror-abetting useful idiot or no, this guy deserved an ass-whupping just for being such a smug tool. The fact that he didn’t made me wonder if there wasn’t some tiny kernel of truth after all to the counter-demonstrators’ claims that Israel doesn’t deliver “justice”…

Yet more Hamas child abuse.

Note the implicit threat on the sign in the center.

This confused me. The guy in the kaffiyeh milled around on the pro-Israel side for some time near the end of the rally, but despite the symbolism of his neckwear it didn’t look like he was trying to stir up trouble.

Could he have been (*gasp!*) someone who wanted an honest, mature discussion with the pro-Israel side, in preference to shouting slogans and taunts?

Ditto these two. They carried signs with a kumbayaa message of reconciliation, and didn’t appear to be trying to stir up trouble.

On the other hand, they were chatting up the wrong-side war protestor guy (that’s his retread sign visible on the right).

Dan Kopelman.

And no, he wasn’t actually using the bullhorns to shout back at the counter-demonstrators – just carrying them.

One of the pro-Hamas group’s organizers, helping to close down the counter-demonstration.

When the bullhorn guy announced that taxis were available wthout charge to get people home from the counter-demonstration, I half expected the crowd to start dutifully bleating “Free! Free! Cab rides home!”.

“Where Does Terrorism End?”  The ironic view from the car as we were leaving downtown.

Screaming and yelling. Note the apparent rage on the face of the girl on the left.

 This boy looks like he’s about to cry. I would too if my “parents” put a target on me and handed me a blood-stained baby doll to wave around.  The protestors complain about the trauma inflicted on the children of Gaza by the ongoing military action, but the trauma they inflict on their own children by using them as propaganda fodder in this way doesn’t seem to bother anyone. Indeed, they clearly understand on some level the power inherent in the shock value of equipping their children with gruesome images and hate-filled placards and using them as news props.

More child abuse.

Start them young – it’s never too soon to expose your infant to hate and rage.

And speaking of rage, this girl had a bad case of it. I watched her for some time, screaming across the street at the pro-Israel rally with an anger that was truly disturbing. This image only partially captures the creepiness.

Meanwhile, at the pro-Israel rally at the steps of the Colorado capitol building:

“I [heart] Israel”.

“God Bless Israel”

The signs on the Israel side by and large expressed positive messages like this. At no time did I see the equivalent sentiments expressed towards Gaza by the counter-demonstrators.

Not. Once.

I think he was a little puzzled about why I was taking his picture. But afterwards, I gave him a thumbs-up, and he grinned from ear to ear with delight.

This girl was singing patriotic songs for a good portion of the rally, and seemed genuinely puzzled and upset by the hatred being blasted in her direction by the counter-demonstrators.

 A father’s protective embrace.

This is what the Israel side had to say. 

And then apparently the Hamas side agreed and hung targets on their children.

And then they hid behind them.  (I thought they only did that over in Palestine?)

Meanwhile, the children on the Israel side were coloring.

And let’s take one more look over at the anti-Jew’s side…

 
Well, their symbols are appropriate – I’m certain Hitler would be beaming with pride.

There was little confrontation (thankfully), but the emotion was running high on both sides, and police kept everyone off of Lincoln.

There are tons of photos after the break, and fellow PPCers will update throughout the evening with more photos and video.

The Nazi flag echoed a common theme seen throughout the afternoon.

The opposing crowds face off.

There was a clear police presence, but most of their duty consisted of keeping protesters out of the street.

The anti-war crowd joined in–but it is the sign across the street that is most poignant.

Blue skies and a crisp wind–and shouts of “Allahu Akbar!”

They always show up.

This would be the most dominant theme: Israel = Nazis.

The messaging, at the very least, was consistent.

Native Americans = Palestinians, and a somewhat clever sign.

More Nazi references.

The vocal center.

Absolutely.

And that is look the other way.

Tom Tancredo “nuke Mecca” comment earned pushback from this protester.

There were several hundred on both sides.

Zionism = Nazism, plus bonus misspelled “Gazza.”

An Israeli flag, carried by the wind, is filled by the sun’s luminescence.

Wait, I thought it was all Israel’s fault!

The long face-off.

Um, yeah.

Standard stuff for this type of rally.

A pro-Israeli woman glances at the protesters on the other side of the street.

And the MSM gathers video.

Star of David = swastika.

Dragging an Israeli flag.

The response.

Dead baby on a stick, and a personification of “Palestine” surrounded by missiles.

Looks like we have the truth, at least, in this sign.

“Same crime, different time.”

Is that Rima Barakat?

A beautiful day for free speech in Denver.

They’re at it again because there will be a pro-Israel rally from 2-4pm on the Capitol Steps on Sunday, which these folks will be attempting to a) upstage by starting a half-hour earlier, b) intimidate by being in full swing when the Israel supporters arrive, and c) shout down like playground bullies.  

Should provide some good fodder for a compare-contrast photo essay tomorrow, given what I saw when driving by the rally at the capitol steps last night.