Members of A Jewish Voice for Peace Await Arrest in San Francisco on April 10, 2002

Police hauled 16 members of A Jewish Voice for Peace out of the middle of Montgomery Street -- where they stood for 20 minutes with arms linked, chanting slogans and singing Israeli songs -- after they refused to quit blocking traffic.

They were all cited for minor traffic infractions related to obstructing the roadway and then released, said San Francisco police Captain James Dudley. The protest, and the arrests at 1:45 p.m., were conducted with no violent outbursts, he said.

The demonstration of about 200 people, which began at noon on the street outside the consulate and in its front hallway, was held "to raise another Jewish voice, one that lets everyone know that what Israel is doing is not happening in our name," said co-organizer Penny Rosenwasser.

"The Israeli army is demolishing Palestinian houses with people still inside them, and using older people as human shields in front of their tanks," said Rosenwasser, who lives in Oakland. "Bodies are being left to rot in the streets.

"It's important that people know we care about Israel and believe it has the right to exist, but that Palestinian lives are just as valuable as Israeli lives."

About a dozen counter-demonstrators stood near the protesters, holding Israeli flags, but there were no clashes between the two sides. A pair of dueling protests over the same issue drew about 1,000 demonstrators -- equally divided for each camp -- to the consulate last Friday and also ended nonviolently.

Rosenwasser said that members of A Jewish Voice For Peace, a Bay Area group, would be back at the consulate today with members of Tikkun Community, another Jewish organization, and that another protest would follow tomorrow involving Arabic groups.

©2002 San Francisco Chronicle

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