Anti-DOMA, Pro-Israel Rallies This Weekend

"Seattle Prop 8 Protests: Love and Legal Rights Go Together" by BurningOak.

Perhaps it's a resurgence of energy after the post-holiday blues that galvanized city activists to gather in solidarity against world problems this weekend. There were two rallies we know of: yesterday's 1,500-strong pro-Israel rally at Temple De Hirsch Sinai on Capitol Hill, and a gay rights protest march from Capitol Hill to Westlake Center on Saturday. The pro-Israel rally was the larger and better-organized of the two; as Dominic Holden over at Slog notes, the anti-DOMA march was poorly attended and organized by a small, inexperienced group without the help of Equal Rights Washington. (Our apologies if the headline makes it seem like the anti-DOMA and pro-Israel camps had anything to do with each other, because they sure didn't.)

More on both protests after the jump.

We drove past the anti-DOMA rally on our way to coffee at Kaladi Brothers on Saturday morning, and since we hadn't heard the rally was even happening we were startled to see Seattle Central Community College's plaza flanked by a row of bored policemen on their motorcycles. After doing the requisite ambulance check, we relaxed and decided to come back later with a camera to document the march. One Mighty O donut and an Americano later, we drove past again--only to find the square emptied and not a trace of the tiny rally. Other than Slog's less-than-complimentary post and this post with a few photos from Capitol Hill Seattle, it would be easy to think we had imagined the whole thing.

As for the pro-Israel rally, with more than ten times the attendees, we weren't surprised to see more coverage in local media. We've also heard reports from our spies at the UW about student protests against the Gaza violence in Red Square, attended also by members of Hillel who chose to stand silently with signs across from the noisier anti-Israel protesters. Says our honest spy, "I'm not really well-informed enough to know where I stand on the issue." Hey, at least she's honest.