Seattle protesters call for peaceful end to Gaza Strip conflict

The morning news of Israel's ground attacks in Gaza gave a sense of urgency to a Palestinian-organized demonstration at Seattle's Westlake Park on Saturday, where some 500 gathered to support a peaceful end to the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Nearly a dozen community groups of various religious, ethnic and political backgrounds co-sponsored the protest.

The event drew, among others, Palestinians worried about family members in immediate danger in Gaza; Jewish protesters dismayed by the violence; and supporters of changes in U.S. policy, which they say would create a peaceful and secular state in Israel.

At one point, dozens of shoes were scattered around several tarps spread on the pavement as Muslims at the demonstration knelt in prayer. Many protesters held signs and some wore traditional black-and-white Palestinian scarves.

"Cease fire now," read some signs. And: "Stop the real terrorists/ US-Israeli war machine," and, "As a Jew, I cannot support attacks on civilians."

Demonstrators chanted, spoke and planned to march through downtown to try to bring awareness to an issue they say many Americans misunderstand or ignore.

For many at the event, the conflict thousands of miles away was intensely personal. A tearful Mona Marouf spoke from the podium of her fears that she could get a phone call at any moment about her parents and family in Gaza.

"It's a disaster, by all means," said her husband, Hussam Marouf. "They are waiting to be killed at any moment ... They don't know where to run or where to go."

Neil Fox, who is Jewish, attended the protest with his wife and two daughters, who are 8 and 10. He described his own upbringing as Zionist but said he hopes to pass a different legacy on to his own children.

He and his wife send their girls to Middle East Peace Camp for Children in Seattle's Magnuson Park to ensure they have personal connections to Palestinian and Muslim children, he said.

American Jews, he said, have a particular responsibility to speak out against the Israeli government's military actions.

"As a Jew, I want to tell Israel that they're not doing this in my name," he said.

Tens of thousands of people staged similar protests in European cities on Saturday, including some who hurled shoes at the tall iron gates outside the British prime minister's residence in London and waved Palestinian flags.

Shoe-throwing has become a popular gesture of protest and contempt since an Iraqi journalist tossed a pair of shoes at President Bush in Baghdad last month.

Protests in Paris, Amsterdam, Rome and Berlin all drew thousands of people.

Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com.

Additional information from The Associated Press.

Information in this article, originally published January 4, 2009, was corrected September 4, 2009. A previous version of this story contained a quote that was incorrectly attributed to an attendee at the rally. The quote has been removed.