Yotam Marom strummed an acoustic guitar and sang to a quiet crowd holding signs calling for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.
“Most of the peace work that needs to be done is each side showing they are human,” said Marom, a 21-year-old member of Hashomer Hatzair, a Jewish youth organization based in New York.
About 60 people from several Zionist groups gathered Tuesday afternoon on the lawn of St. Anne?s Episcopal Church in Annapolis to rally for separate states for the Israelis and Palestinians.
With Hebrew songs and a few organized speeches, the gathering was markedly calmer than the heated shouting among protesters down the street in front of the gates of the U.S. Naval Academy. The rallies coincided with Tuesday?s Middle East peace conference at the academy.
“We support what?s happening in Annapolis,” said Tammy Shapiro, director of the Union of Progressive Zionists, a student activist group.
“The time to build a secure Israel next to a secure Palestine is now.”
Organizers said they were optimistic about the peace talks, despite the Bush administration toning down expectations and some protesters calling the summit “phony.”
“We are at the beginning of the road,” said Naom Shelef, spokesman for Americans For Peace Now, a U.S. group that advocates for peace in the Middle East that participated in the event.
Shelef acknowledged the anxiety and uncertainty surrounding the talks but called President Bush?s effort to structure peace talks between the two nations “a significant achievement.”
The rally was followed by a People?s Peace Conference at the church, an afternoon of break-out groups and presentations by individuals interested in participating in the discussion, said August Deimel, church spokesman.
“Here everyone can come and have a chance to express themselves,” he said.
