Nearly nose-to-nose, Lee-El Gakner leaned in close to an opposing protester, shouting her message that Israel not be divided for the Palestinians.
“You can?t reason with them,” yelled the frustrated 14-year-old from Silver Spring.
Meanwhile, Jim Preston held up his fingers in a peace sign.
“We love you all. We?re here for peace,” said Preston, a member of Washington-based Code Pink for Peace, an anti-war group that wants Israel to end its occupation of Gaza.
By midday Tuesday, a crowd that started Mondaywith about a dozen vocal protesters had swelled to about 200 people wielding signs, chanting slogans and rallying around divergent views on the fate of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
At times, the protests, which coincided with the Middle East peace conference at the U.S. Naval Academy, escalated to close-face shouting matches among the factions.
Some anti-Palestinian protesters insisted Israel should not be divided to give land to the Palestinians. Others called for peace through two separate lands for Israelis and Palestinians.
Rabbi Shmuel Hezfeld, president of the Coalition of Jewish Concern, said the peace talks would only lead to more violence in the Middle East.
“This is very dangerous and creating unfair expectations,” said Hezfeld, who opposed giving land to the Palestinians.
Many protesters agreed the peace talks wouldn?t lead to considerable progress in solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“It?s a photo-op,” said Danielle Greene, a member of Code Pink for Peace.
The blows remained verbal, but police officers stood close by, at times forming a line between groups. However, no incidents resulted from the protests, said Office Kevin Freeman, Annapolis police spokesman.
“It was mostly words,” he said, adding no violence took place during the rallies.
In a perhaps unexpected position, a group of Orthodox Jews gathered to argue against any Israeli state, saying the Torah forbids a Jewish state. The fringe group, known as the Orthodox Jews Against Zionism, all donned the traditional beards and black hats, and held signs that read: “Judaism rejects Zionism.”
