BERKELEY, Calif. -- Hundreds of people on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict turned out Sunday for a rally featuring the wreckage of a bombed Jerusalem bus -- an event that sparked some heated verbal clashes but was largely peaceful.

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As many as 700 people were there for an anti-terrorism protest built around the exhibit of Bus 19, the remains of a bus that was struck by a suicide bomber a year ago. Eleven people were killed and 45 injured in that incident.

Another group of about 300 took part in a counter demonstration across the street, holding up signs representing Palestinian children killed in the conflict.

At one point, a verbal confrontation turned physical and two people were taken into custody, police said. But for the most part, the two-hour event, held in a sunny downtown park, was calm.

Speakers at the anti-terrorism rally said the mangled wreckage of Bus 19, which is being displayed around the country and will be in San Francisco Monday, shows the devastating effects of terrorism.

"There is a global threat that we are facing today," said James Hutchens, president of the Washington, D.C.-based The Jerusalem Connection, formerly known as Christians for Israel, which organized the exhibit. "We want to come together and say this is unacceptable."

But critics said the bus exhibit was a one-sided endorsement of Israeli policy.

"We're here because we believe in justice," said Barbara Lubin, executive director of the Middle East Children's Alliance, a Berkeley-based group that provides aid to Palestinian and Iraqi children. "I think everybody on this side believes that this can be resolved and has to be resolved."

But, she said, peace cannot be reached in the Middle East "until the issue of Palestine is justly resolved."

Most of the verbal clashing came from two fairly small groups who faced off across an intersection. On one side, about two dozen people waved Palestinian flags and shouted slogans including "Free, free Palestine!" and "Hey, hey. Ho, ho. The occupation has to go."

On the other side of the street, a handful of people waved United States and Israeli flags and yelled back their disagreement.

As the rally wore on, some of the more vocal pro-Palestinian protesters crossed the street and attempted to march through the rally. They were swiftly surrounded by police and eventually retreated back across the street.

Among those attending the anti-terrorism rally was Ellen Cohen of Palo Alto.

"I oppose terrorism," she said. "Although I believe the Palestinians deserve a state, I don't agree with their means to achieve it. I don't think you should strap bombs on kids and send them out to kill other kids."

She was disappointed to see a counter demonstration.

"I was really hoping that they would be on this side, protesting terrorism," she said.

Berkeley, with its rich history of protest, has been the site of a number of demonstrations centered on Palestinian-Israeli issues. One of the larger confrontations came in spring 2002 when 79 arrests were made after pro-Palestinian protesters took over a building at the University of California, Berkeley.

City Councilman Max Anderson, who was standing with the silent counter protesters Sunday, said it should be no surprise that Berkeley is wrestling with Middle East politics.

"This is a political place. Berkeley is renowned for taking up tough issues," he said. "There's no tougher issue on this planet right now than the conflict in the Middle East."