We arrived around 6:45 p.m. Eastbound cars were backed up because of the traffic light and they were trying to turn left. The protesters were on the southside of 103rd on the corner. They were shouting "Jews go home" and some crap about Hitler. The best thing was that the cars were laying on their horns, drowning out the shouting people. There were cops all over. I was very shocked that protesters were even there. These people don't have anything better to do with their time. In this day in age, it is really sad that Elie Weisel would have to encounter this type of behavior. We enjoyed Elie Weisel.

"The second group which was not completely distinguishable from the first appeared to be protesting the war in Iraq"

that was all basically one group, some actual NSWP {"National Socialist Worker's Party"} some just "racial white patriots". It was not the war in Iraq, it was the war in Iran. racists,bigots,anti-semitics. they were all on that same South East corner.

I would also like to point out that there was never a "riot" and - SADLY - it was too tightly watched to get "out of control". I realise a lot the people replying to this live in that area, and so this is for you, I'm extremely dissapointed that all you seamed to worry about, was a fight breaking out, and don't seam to understand the reason that there was at least 40 people on the northside of the street, and only 10 or so skinny white boys on the south.

I think what you need to realise, the news isn't that there where nazi's there to yell things about jews, the news is that your neighborhood was lucky enough to have people come from all over the city, to keep those ignorant people quite, and stop them getting close enough to harm an innocent man. so think twice next time you give a diry look to a mexican, or black kid, or a girl with REALY short hair, and big boots. just for walking in your neighborhood.

Tell us what you saw, rbecker. As I mentioned, I was there about 15 minutes after the protest began, and things seemed pretty calm at that point. And how was the speech, by the way?

A little bit of history first: In February 1978, a U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled that three ordinances adopted by the Skokie Village Board aimed at preventing Nationalist Socialist party sympathizers from marching in Skokie were unconstitutional and violated the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

As I stated, I left the scene at about 7:45 p.m. last night, well into Weisel's speech but before its conclusion. At that point, I saw about half a dozen protesters (presumably Nazi sympathizers) on the southeast corner of 103rd Street and Hamlin Avenue, across from the entrance to the school. They were vocal, but nothing suggested that they were there to incite violence - they key element to enforcing injunctive action against a group of people as understood by most judges.

So if they were actually "ushered away" by Chicago police prior to the conclusion of the event, it appears that the City of Chicago - not the protesters themselves - indulged in some of its own Socialist tendencies and engaged in the very behavior that neo-Nazism supposedly promotes.

If they weren't dispersed by the police (I haven't gotten a clear answer either way so far from officials), then let's celebrate the fact that simultaneously the following events occurred without incident: Controversial author and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Elie Weisel addressed a maximum-capacity crowd at the city's oldest university; protesters opposing war in Iran and advocating neo-Nazi policies were allowed to state their case publicly; another group of socially conscious young adults counter-protested them to make its own presence known; and the Chicago Police Department exercised restraint and good judgment in maintaining order without force.

Sounds like a successful exercise in American freedom to me ... and it didn't have to go all the way to the U.S. District Court.

Nazi's aren't scary at all, there is nothing intimidating about the boneheads. and by the way, I know for a fact at leat two of the people arrested weren't "anarchists". in fact, I saw all 3 of those arrests take place right in front of my face, and all 3 where completley unreasonable.