New York, NY, August 10, 2006 ... The sponsors of an anti-Israel rally scheduled to take place on Saturday, August 12 in Washington, D.C., with related rallies taking place in San Francisco, Seattle and Los Angeles, have a history of providing a platform to an array of extremist views, including support for Palestinian terrorism and the terrorist group Hezbollah, calls for the destruction of the Jewish state and messages equating Zionism with Nazism, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

Protesters are planning to gather in Lafayette Park for the "National Emergency March to Stop the U.S.-Israeli War," which is primarily sponsored by the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition.  Previous rallies sponsored by ANSWER and other anti-Israel groups have promoted an unapologetic message denouncing Israel and U.S. foreign policy.

They have also included a proliferation of anti-Semitic expression and support for the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah, both from speakers and on signage visible at the rallies.  Some recent examples include:

• During an August 5 rally in New York City, one speaker chanted in Arabic, "Nasrallah dear: bomb Tel Aviv … bomb Kiryat Shmona.  Another speaker said, "We need a Hezbollah style organization in this country … resistance."
• At a rally in Dearborn, Michigan, on August 1, demonstrators held a sign that read: "Side By Side We Shall Stand Holding Hezbollah Flags In Our Hands!"  During a previous rally in Dearborn on July 19, one of the speakers said, "We know that the president is being bought by the Zionist lobby. We know that the (U.S.) Congress is being bought by the Zionist lobby.
• Demonstrators at a rally in Los Angeles on July 19 carried signs with Israeli flags and swastikas on them.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.