SKOKIE (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Dueling rallies in support of Israel and Palestine in Skokie got a bit chaotic Sunday night.
Inside the Skokie banquet hall, the counsel general of Israel to the Midwest said the Hamas attack that started the war is the largest killing of Jews since the Holocaust. Meanwhile, Hatem Abudayyeh, national chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network spoke to CBS-2 about their counter-protest outside.
“Not only are we here in support of the Palestinian people, but we’re here to say that, if you’re doing a rally in support of Israel, essentially, you’re doing a rally in support of war crimes,” Abudayyeh said.
Skokie Police said about 200 people came out to protest the gathering hosted by the Simon Wiesenthal Center near Touhy and St. Louis.
“We need to encourage peaceful coexistence regardless of what our religious background is. We live in a country where there is supposed to be plurality of beliefs and that we are united together,” Hope in the Holy Lands’ Justin Kron said.
Skokie police said there were several disturbances, including someone pepper spraying two people and a Chicago police officer. There were also reports of someone firing a gun into the air.
Police arrested two people but released one without charges.
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