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White Nationalists march on University of Virginia campus
Many were seen making Nazi salutes and using the Nazi slogan “blood and soil."
August 13, 2017 11:26
Many were seen making Nazi salutes and using the Nazi slogan “blood and soil."
August 13, 2017 11:26Hundreds of white supremacists marched through the University of Virginia campus chanting "Jews will not replace us".
The far-right activists led the march on Friday, carrying torches and ropes used to clash with counter protestors, while shouting racist slogans.
The white supremacist protestors were heard shouting, "white lives matter," and "you will not replace us," as well as making Nazi salutes and using the Nazi slogan “blood and soil."
The march happened ahead of a larger planned rally called "Unite the Right," which took place on Saturday, and was organised by white supremacist groups in the university town of Charlottesville.
Thousands of far-right extremists attend the rally, and one woman died and 19 people were injured when a car rammed a crowd of opposing protestors.
A twenty-year-old from Ohio has been arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder.
We stand in solidarity with American Jewish orgs and others taking a stand against the racist “Unite the Right” march in #Charlottesville: pic.twitter.com/43CNHnmx12
— Board of Deputies (@BoardofDeputies) August 14, 2017
Governor Terry McAuliffe had urged Virginians, who "may consider joining either in support or opposition to the planned rally to make alternative plans."
Oren Segal, director of the Center on Extremism at the Anti-Defamation League, a group that monitors and combats anti-Semitism, described the events as a "historic showcase of hate, bringing together more extremists in one place than we have seen in at least a decade."
Rabbis and Jewish students traveled from all over America to take part in counter protests.
Rabbi Mordechai Liebling, a board member of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, told Haaretz: “I’ve been going to demonstrations for literally 50 years and have never seen the level of chaos and hatred that I saw today."
Bryan Mann, a rabbinical student at Hebrew College in Boston, attended the counter demonstrations with three friends.
He told Haaretz that a white nationalist protestor said 'look at that bunch of kikes" as he walked past him.
Mr Mann said: “I’ve never been called a kike in my life.
"There were people in military uniforms with big guns getting in our faces a little bit, shouting at us."
The demonstration in Charlottesville comes after the town announced plans to remove a statue of General Robert E. Lee, who led Confederate forces in the US Civil War.
General Lee has become a hero for white nationalists and Klu Klux Klan supporters.
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