posted July 18, 2006 10:38 PM              

New Yorkers are closely watching the crisis in the Middle East, with sympathies and concerns on both sides of the border. In the following story, NY1’s Cindi Avila reports on a rally in Manhattan against Israel's role in the current fighting.

Hundreds gathered across from the Israeli mission to the United Nations on Tuesday, protesting Israel's current actions against Lebanon and their ongoing dispute with the Palestinian people.

“Israel has an apartheid regime at home, and it seeks to impose its order on its neighbors," said Iffa Mikael of the National Council of Arab-Americans.

"The massive attack on the people of Lebanon, besides being illegal - which is not the most important thing - it’s justified in a way that makes no sense to me," said anti-war protestor Elaine Matthews.

No one feels more strongly about the dangerous situation in Lebanon than those who have family over there. Nehme Hijazr says his wife and children are right in the middle of the violence.

"They are in fear. They are in the middle of the fireball,” he said. “It’s not just fear; it’s the shells are right on top of their heads. Houses are being destroyed right next door, people are getting killed right next door, shellings by plane right next door."

Many of the Palestinians at the rally say they have lived in fear of Israel for years.

“Stop killing our families,” said Palestinian Ouafa Jindyeh. “You want to live in peace? We can live in peace like in this country. Everybody lives in peace because there’s a third law, basically, that protects everybody.”

The protestors insist Israel is overreacting to the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah. Many told NY1 Israel was nearly looking for a reason to attack.

“I know the aggressor is Israel,” said Mikael. “It has had a pattern throughout history of using pretext, like for example the taking of the Israeli soldier in Gaza, where it had already been planning an invasion.”

“This was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” said Ambassador Arye Mekel of the Consul-General of Israel. “We had no choice than to react. It’s a defensive measure. We are exercising our right for self-defense.”

The ambassador added that George W. Bush’s support for Israel is very important right now. But many demonstrators Tuesday said the United States should stop supporting Israel and instead support peace on all sides.

- Cindi Avila

Jul 18, 8:40 PM EDT

U.N. mission demonstrators protest Israeli military offensives

By DESMOND BUTLER
Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- Hundreds of demonstrators in front of Israel's mission to the United Nations on Tuesday protested the country's military action in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

Protesters chanted, "Stop the killing, stop the bombs, Israel out of Lebanon." Some held signs that said, "Hands off Lebanon."

"I am against collective punishment and the killing of civilians in Lebanon and Gaza in the last few weeks," said Khalil Iskarous, a research scientist at Yale University originally from Egypt.

Iskarous, 39, wore a T-shirt that said in English and Arabic, "We will not be silent."

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Many of the demonstrators wore traditional Palestinian headscarfs and waved signs from U.S. Muslim groups, but others identified themselves as Christian and Jewish.

"I'm here because I am opposed to Israel's racist policies toward Palestinians and its aggression against Lebanon," said Mike Friedman, 51, a New York-based biology researcher who is Jewish.

Late Tuesday, Israeli tanks moved into a refugee camp in central Gaza under cover of machine gun fire from troops, the latest incursion in a three-week military push in the seaside territory. Israel says its offensives were sparked by killings and kidnappings of its soldiers, first by Hamas-linked militants near the Gaza Strip and then by Hezbollah guerrillas over its border with Lebanon.

Responding to the demonstrators, Israel's consul-general in New York, Arye Mekel, said the protests should be aimed at Hezbollah.

"Instead of demonstrating downstairs, the people should have come up and thanked me and Israel personally because we are getting rid of Hezbollah, who does not serve the interests of Lebanon and its people but rather the interests of two foreign countries, Iran and Syria," he said.

Tuesday's protest was organized by a coalition of groups including U.S.-based Arab and Muslim organizations, such as the National Council of Arab Americans.

Many anti-war groups, which have organized large demonstrations against the U.S.-led war in Iraq, endorsed and attended the protest.

"We have always since our founding conference been against U.S. support of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories," said Leslie Cagan, national coordinator for United for Peace and Justice, one of the largest U.S. anti-war groups. "The core of this crisis in Lebanon is the decades-long occupation of the West Bank and Gaza."

Another anti-war group, ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), said it was planning more protests against U.S. and Israeli military action in the Middle East.

At a pro-Israel rally near the United Nations on Monday, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, Jewish leaders and elected officials rallied thousands of supporters.