Before Obama AIPAC speech, Pro-Hamas graffiti suggests violence
Graffiti reading Victory to the Taliban, Victory to Hamas and the word Jihad written inside a rocket appeared overnight on sidewalks outside the downtown Washington, D.C. convention center where President Barack Obama spoke to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Sunday.
A trail of graffiti down 7th Street between K and N Streets included the image of a rocket flying through the air with the word Qassam. Named after a militant 20th-century Syrian preacher, a Qassam is a rocket preferred by the military arm of Hamas to hit Israeli targets.
Other graffiti said Victory to Hezballah and Victory to Iran, along with the word AIPAC crossed out. Some of the pictures showed rockets striking the word AIPAC.
Some of the roughly 200 protesters who gathered at the convention center to decry the pro-Israel AIPAC gathering condemned the graffiti. Several of the protesters were self-described members of the group Occupy AIPAC.
I have no idea what this is. I saw these last night. I can assure you none of the people here at Occupy share this sentiment, said protester Alli McCracken.
If anything, this is just someone doing this to make us look bad. Last night, we were walking here and we were like, This is crazy, theyre framing us! Everyone here is pro-peace, not pro-terrorist groups.
Palestinian protesters also denied that the graffiti represent their views and hinted at a conspiracy.
Oh no. We wont say anything related to that, said Palestinian protester Rajai Dias. Thats not something that anyone in our organization wants to do. That wasnt any supporters from here.
Dias noted that none of the messages were written in Arabic.
Clearly, if it was from them, they dont know Arabic. Hamas and Palestinians dont even bomb Israel. They lie so much, Dias said, pointing at the convention center where AIPAC was scheduled to be held.
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Before Obama AIPAC speech, Pro-Hamas graffiti suggests violence