The Secret Rally for Israel

If 35,000 people had showed up in New York to protest the appearance by President Bush, would that have made the news? Chances are it would have led the news on every major network and newspaper.

But, if 35,000 people show up to protest the Iranian president and to support Israel, does it make the news? Barely. I had seen only a small notice about it, and it's been almost completely ignored by the mainstream press. Here's the info on the rally:

Some 35,000 people rallied across from the United Nations to protest Ahmadinejad’s presence at the world body. The crowd also wanted to show solidarity for Israel and implore the United Nations to enforce Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended Israel’s war this summer with Hezbollah and calls for the release of three Israeli soldiers taken hostage by Hamas and Hezbollah.

Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Presidents Conference, referred to Ahmadinejad’s Tuesday night speech to the General Assembly, in which he portrayed the creation of Israel as aggression against the Muslim world.

“He’s constantly lied and misrepresented the truth,” Hoenlein said, “and he comes and lectures the rest of the world?”

The rally drew dozens of speakers, including Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, New York Gov. George Pataki and Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz.

Ahmadinejad was treated like a conquering hero by much of the press, which is amazing given his history of anti-Semitism and threats against America. However, as long as he's anti-Bush, he's alright with the mainstream media.