Code Pink Bikini-clad activists crash Israeli beach party in Manhattan

Date: 22 / 06 / 2009 Time: 11:46
Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies -

At least five young women crashed a so-called beach party organized by the Israeli Foreign Ministry in New York City's Central Park on Sunday.

Clad in bikinis and holding signs reading "Free Gaza" and "Sand won't cover your war crimes," the women were quickly removed by police and security from "the Tel Aviv beach" set up in Manhattan to celebrate the largest city in Israel's centennial.

According to US media reports the women, affiliated with the anti-war group CODEPINK, covered themselves in mud to protest the "dirty policies Israel holds towards Palestine," and chanted, "Tel Aviv, you can't hide, we can see your dirty side!"

The beach party saw tons of actual Tel Aviv sand airlifted from Israel's coast and temporarily dumped in Central Park. An Israeli reggae band and a DJ from the country's Army Radio provided entertainment.

Thousands were estimated to have attended the event, which was organized by Israel's Foreign Ministry, Tourism Ministry, Tel Aviv Municipality and El Al Airlines, according to the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz.

In late May activists from Austrian Arab associations crashed a similar beach event on the bank of Vienna's Donaukanal River. Organizers said their Gaza beach display, on the opposite bank of "the obscene Tel Aviv Beach," would disturb the Israeli beach ambience with a banner reading, "Sun in Tel Aviv, fire in Gaza."

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