During the afternoon on Yom Kippur, about 100 neo-Nazis held a virulently anti-Semitic rally in Valley Forge National Park in Pennsylvania, USA. Hundreds of anti-Nazi demonstrators protested nearby.
Police were on hand and reports number more officers than demonstrators on both sides put together.
Members of the Ku Klux Klan teamed up with the Minnesota-based National Socialist Movement, to sponsor the rally. They chose Valley Forge because of its connection to George Washington, who, according to the groups, held separatist and anti-Semitic views. 11,000 Revolutionary War soldiers under Washington’s command camped in Valley Forge from December 1777 to June 1778.
Speakers, many wearing hoods and sporting swastikas, spoke at length about America's role in the Iraq war, blaming it on Israel. "For 40 years Israel has sought to get American forces on the ground in the Middle East," said Clifford Herrington, a former National Socialist Movement chairman, according to the Associated Press.
They blasted U.S. President Bush for having non-white relatives and also bashed presidential-hopeful John Kerry for his ties with the Heinz company, which sells kosher products.
Several hundred counter-protesters came to the park to register their outrage at the presence of the Nazis. One of those in attendance was Michael Berg, whose son, Nick, was kidnapped and beheaded by terrorists in Iraq.
"I ask you all to start thinking of ways you can make the world a place of peace, a place of tolerance, and a place of diversity," Berg told the crowd, according to the Philadelphia Enquirer.
Police were on hand and reports number more officers than demonstrators on both sides put together.
Members of the Ku Klux Klan teamed up with the Minnesota-based National Socialist Movement, to sponsor the rally. They chose Valley Forge because of its connection to George Washington, who, according to the groups, held separatist and anti-Semitic views. 11,000 Revolutionary War soldiers under Washington’s command camped in Valley Forge from December 1777 to June 1778.
Speakers, many wearing hoods and sporting swastikas, spoke at length about America's role in the Iraq war, blaming it on Israel. "For 40 years Israel has sought to get American forces on the ground in the Middle East," said Clifford Herrington, a former National Socialist Movement chairman, according to the Associated Press.
They blasted U.S. President Bush for having non-white relatives and also bashed presidential-hopeful John Kerry for his ties with the Heinz company, which sells kosher products.
Several hundred counter-protesters came to the park to register their outrage at the presence of the Nazis. One of those in attendance was Michael Berg, whose son, Nick, was kidnapped and beheaded by terrorists in Iraq.
"I ask you all to start thinking of ways you can make the world a place of peace, a place of tolerance, and a place of diversity," Berg told the crowd, according to the Philadelphia Enquirer.