Excerpts:
Chanting "Cease-fire now!" a diverse group of more than 350 Coloradans - from young women in head scarves to graying peace activists - marched from City Hall through downtown Denver and back Saturday protesting the killing in Lebanon.
It was one of several marches that brought thousands to the streets nationwide challenging U.S.-backed Israeli bombing.
Marchers in Denver included Christians, Muslims and Jews. For three hours they vented a shared sense of outrage at the month-long war that has killed hundreds of Lebanese civilians and dozens in Israel as Hezbollah rockets rain down. ...
Israel's action using U.S.-made weaponry "is certainly increasing the threat of terrorism" targeting Americans, said Mark Cohen, 60, a legal advisor helping run the rally. U.S. support for the war "is not making us safer. It's putting us in more danger," he said. ...
Shoppers along Denver's 16th Street Mall stopped and watched. Police monitoring the rally reported no trouble. ...
Religious leaders helped organize the march. Mixed messages ranging from steadfast nonviolence to support for Hezbollah "show the diversity" of a new organization called the Front Range Coalition for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, said Imam Ibrahim Kazerooni, a leader of interfaith efforts at St. John's Cathedral.
But the clear call to immediately stop violence and for a U.S. policy based on more than military methods "may be something political leaders have to take into consideration," he said. ...
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