Dozens of Jewish Americans Wednesday staged a demonstration outside the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles against the country's military attacks in Gaza, forcing officials to temporarily close part of a major street, police said.

According to Julianne Sohn of Los Angeles Police Department, the noisy demonstration starting about 8:30 a.m. prompted Los Angeles authorities to close Wilshire Boulevard, where the Israeli consulate stands, until late morning. No protestors were arrested.

The demonstrators, many of them carrying anti-war signs and gathering outside the consulate building, said they were unhappy with the "atrocities" resulting from the recent Israeli offensive in the Gaza Stripe.

Two protestors chained themselves to handrails at the building housing the Israeli Consulate, saying they intended to shut down the facility, while others held hands to form a circle at the entrance to the parking garage.

"As a Jewish American, I came out because I believe what we are seeing are Israeli war crimes and that it's important for Jewish people opposed to the violence to speak out," said Lisa Adler, 29,one of the two protestors chained to the building.

"We cannot stand by and let these atrocities happen," said Eric Romann, the other one.

But the relatively few protestors in Wednesday's demonstration, compared to the hundreds who have participated in pro-Israeli rallies last week, reflected the fact that Jewish Americans mostly support Israel on whatever issues related to the Middle-East conflict.

Counter demonstrations by pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli groups have been staged in Los Angels in last two weeks to protestor support the Israeli military strikes in Gaza.　

Source:Xinhua