STEVE INSKEEP, Host:
The fighting in Gaza has led to protests around the world - in Europe, the Middle East, even in some American cities. In some cases the protests have been violent. In Brussels last weekend a rally against the Israeli military offensive ended with protesters smashing windows and overturning police cars. In Miami recently a rally led to a dozen arrests, but some Palestinian and Jewish activists in Florida are seeking common ground. Here's NPR's Greg Allen.
GREG ALLEN: In South Florida scarcely a day goes by that there's not at least one rally in support of Israel or a protest of the Israeli offensive in Gaza. Florida is home to both sizeable Jewish and Muslim populations. Muhammed Malik is doing something that some might consider risky, even foolhardy. He's organizing rallies that include both Palestinians and Jews. The first one earlier this month in Miami grew heated with taunts and jeers being thrown by both sides until police stepped in. Malik says there were maybe a dozen hotheads out of a crowd of more than a thousand.
(SOUNDBITE OF RALLY)
MUHAMMED MALIK: And so when you take that one percent, it ruined the rest for everyone else. And we all know the media likes to focus on violence because it's sexy and it attracts a lot of advertisers because people want to read. But we hope that peace will also be sexy too.
ALLEN: This week, a Jewish and a Palestinian group decided to try again with a rally for peace in downtown Miami. It sounds simple, but it requires something not usually found at rallies - sensitivity to the other side's position. It didn't start well. A few dozen Palestinians and their supporters held up signs and waved Palestinian flags. And one of the Jewish organizers, Yatir Nitzany, told Palestinian activist Samia Ahmad that he didn't like what he was seeing.
YATIR NITZANY: Listen, this is an anti-Israel rally. The signs...
SAMIA AHMAD: Where do you see anti-Israel?
NITZANY: OK, the signs "Free Palestine" - that's blaming Israel.
AHMAD: Where do you see "Free...
NITZANY: Everyone has a little banner, "Free Palestine," "End the Occupation." There's a sign out there, "Stop the Holocaust" that Israel's doing to the Palestinians.
AHMAD: Where do you see "Stop the Holocaust"?
NITZANY: Right over there.
ALLEN: After a few minutes it was worked out. The offending signs were removed, and more Jewish activists showed up. They'd been held up in traffic. Pretty soon, the still-sparse crowd was waving Israeli flags along with Palestinian ones. Jack Lieberman of the Jewish American Dialogue Association said he hopes that Jews and Palestinians in this country can agree on just one idea, the need for peace. If so, he says, perhaps they can encourage the incoming Obama administration to resume the U.S.'s role as a peace broker - something he believes is in Israel's best interests.
JACK LIEBERMAN: I want Israel to be a prosperous, democratic state. It cannot be a prosperous, democratic state while it's at war and while it's occupying the West Bank and Gaza.
ALLEN: This rally was just a few dozen people, a fraction of the nearly 2,000 people who showed up at pro-Israel rallies in the Miami area a day earlier. Muhammed Malik of the South Florida Palestine Solidarity Network says it takes time for people to lower their guard and to put aside their distrust of those on the other side. He says missteps, harsh words, and flaring tempers have to be expected.
MALIK: It's like when you first learn how to ride a bicycle, you fall a couple of times. So, if this is the first time where people are coming together, maybe they might disagree here, maybe not be perfect, but you can't expect perfection. Yeah, this is our way of riding the bike with Jewish and Muslim relations. We'll fall off a couple of times, and then we'll get back on.
ALLEN: It's a basic human response. Faced with the continuing violence in the Middle East, Palestinians and Jews who live in the U.S. are speaking out for friends and relatives caught in the middle of the conflict. The question a few people in South Florida are asking, is it possible to speak out without bringing the conflict and the hatred here? Greg Allen, NPR News, Miami.