A pro-Israel rally Monday in downtown Albany, which was advertised as a show of solidarity against terrorism, turned into a confrontation between Israeli supporters and pro-Palestine protestors.

Sponsored by Capital District Friends of Israel, the rally featured leaders from various local faith communities and a laundry list of local politicians, including Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings, U.S. Reps. Michael McNulty (D-Green Island) and John Sweeney (R-Clifton Park), and New York state Lt. Gov. Mary Donahue, as speakers.

The rally, which had roughly 150 attendees, was designed to express local opposition to terrorism worldwide, and to the terrorism experienced in Israel by the Jewish people specifically. But the rally’s one-sided position on the divisive Israeli-Palestinian conflict brought out a few dozen pro-peace, pro-Palestine protestors. The arrival of the protestors quickly led to shouting matches between the opposing groups and, consequently, police intervention to deter any potential violence.

Though the rally was meant to show a joint effort of Albany residents and Israelis standing against terrorism, its events strayed from the goal.

Fueled by a blend of antiterrorism rhetoric inflamed by the anniversary of Sept. 11, and the reflection on Jewish suffering brought about by Rosh Hashanah, the rally created a heated atmosphere in which the two groups exchanged their conflicting perspectives.

One by one, a group of pro-peace, pro-Palestine demonstrators filtered into the courtyard behind the Capitol through the thick security perimeter manned by New York state troopers on foot, bicycle and horseback. The troopers asked to search backpacks as the protestors distributed signs from a pile and unfurled banners. But the pro-Palestine demonstrators were met with the backs of pro-Israeli demonstrators.

Annette Levi, a pro-Israeli demonstrator, fired questions at the protestors and yelled rebuttals to their responses. "I think what they are saying is a bunch of lies," said Levi. "There is no occupation. The Israeli army is getting out the suicide bombers who call themselves militants. They are just like the militants who committed the attacks of Sept. 11."

But Yunus Fiske, also with CDJP, said that not all Palestinians support the suicide bombings. Fiske, who opposes both suicide bombings and Israeli military aggression, said equating all Palestinians to the reasoning of suicide bombers is irrational. Fiske summed up the rally as warmongering.

As more rally demonstrators made their way to the courtyard, Pro-Israeli demonstrators strategically positioned themselves in front of the opposition’s signs, and repositioned themselves when the peace demonstrators tried to move. Grace White, a pro-peace demonstrator with CDJP, said the actions of the pro-Israeli demonstrators were typical.

Asked how he felt about representing the City of Albany as pro-Israel, and therefore against the pro-Palestine demonstrators, Jennings questioned if the latter were even from Albany.

White had another interpretation of Jennings’ and the other politicians’ involvement in the day’s events: "He wants the Jewish vote," she said. "All the politicians up there, they all want the vote."

The police intervened, standing ominously behind any discussion where voices were raised and making protestors remove the wooden stakes holding up their placards. Eventually, tensions between the two groups cooled, the two factions divided on opposite sides of the Philip Henry Sheridan statue behind the Capitol, and the audience began to pay more attention to the rally’s scheduled speakers.

As the rally wound down, the Israeli demonstrators offered their national flag, pins and newsletters to the pro-Palestine demonstrators, who, in turn, tried to exchange their literature. The event ended on a positive note as Fiske and Rabbi Deborah Gordon of Troy’s Berith Shalom Synagogue talked about bringing their issues together in a formal setting.