Pro-Israel rally draws thousands

Tuesday, April 16, 2002 | 10:33 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

WASHINGTON -- Tens of thousands of demonstrators, gathered at the steps of the Capitol to support Israel's battle against terror, hooted down a Bush administration official who suggested that Palestinians too have suffered.

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz represented President Bush at the rally Monday among a line of speakers who expressed U.S. solidarity with Israel and condemned Palestinian suicide bombers as the greatest obstacle to peace in the Middle East.

Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, who spoke on behalf of Senate Democratic leadership, said achieving peace in the Middle East is the "the sum of all our prayers."

Reid, the Senate majority whip, joined a speaker's list that included Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo.

Reid drew applause as he pledged strong support for Israel, declaring, "I stand with Israel."

"We stand with the people of Israel who want a safe, peaceful and prosperous future not only for themselves but also for their neighbors," Reid said.

Reid, addressing a boisterous but peaceful crowd gathered in the 80-degree heat, likened Israel's battle against terrorism to the United States' struggle. He called on U.S. officials to be unwavering.

"We can't expect Israel to stand idle while its citizens are being slaughtered," Reid said.

Reid drew cheers with his closing, "Shalom! Shalom! Peace!"

Wolfowitz, the Pentagon's second-ranked official was forced to stop talking several times, shouted down by boos and chants of "no more Arafat," when he noted that Israelis were not the only victims of violence. Yasser Arafat heads the Palestinian Authority and, denounced as a terrorist by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, is "isolated" in his headquarters by Israeli troops sent by Sharon to crush Palestinian terror operations.

"Palestinians are suffering and dying as well," Wolfowitz told a crowd that extended from Capitol Hill down the National Mall to the Reflecting Pool. "It is critical that we recognize and acknowledge that fact."

Wolfowitz also was interrupted by shouts of protest when he said that most Palestinians want peace, and "hard decisions must be made by both sides to achieve a lasting peace."

Debra Wasserman of the Israel Policy Forum, a group of Jewish leaders supportive of the administration's efforts to mediate the Mideast conflict, said in a statement that Wolfowitz eloquently articulated U.S.-Israel friendship, and "he deserves gratitude and credit from American Jews, not criticism and jeers."

Demonstrators came by charter plane from New York, Miami and Los Angeles, and by overnight bus from as far away as Wisconsin for what organizers said was the largest pro-Israel rally ever held in the United States. U.S. Capitol Police reported no disturbances or arrests but said 138 people were treated for heat exhaustion. Capitol Police and U.S. Park Police, as a policy, do not provide crowd estimates.