THE RALLY, AND AFTER

Fun, though not overwhelmingly attended.


Many of us who show up at these events recognize each other, and there were folks there I had not seen in a long time.

In a way these events are like old school week. You ask people how they have been since you last met, recognize someone you really must go say hello to, cock half an ear towards the speechifying..... some long electronic voice over rumble finishes, sounding exactly like one of those unintelligible airport announcements, and everybody claps like crazy (the news that flight nine three two from Newark or Milwaukee is delayed is cause for joy?).



Off to the side, behind barricades, the Green Party opportunistically counter-demoed.
Todd Chrétien seems to believe that pishing on someone else's parade is good for his political campaign. Please remember to vote against him, and urge others to also vote against him.


Off to another side, about twenty angry Filistini screamed some very strange stuff.
Did you know that eighty-two percent of our government is Israeli? Neither did I.


A very zonked female in hippy garb, with a hysterically fake Jamaican accent, sort of wafted and dilly-danced through the crowd, singing something about either all da bruddas peace, ya mon, or the after-effects of ganja - I'm not sure which.



I had several conversations with friends - 'the dialectic between faith and reason', 'likutei amarim', some passages in Nezikin, Jacob Neussner, bullhorn, nice sign, the heat the heat the heat.
At one point, a friend who had wandered off towards the palms took offense at what one of the Palestinian protestors said and ran screaming back toward the barricade red in the face to furiously yell at them - I never saw tzitzit fly like that before.


By and large a good time was had by all - including the eloquent young rabble-rouser who always seems to lead the Filistini side, who during the 'post-barricade-removal-wind-down-and-schmooze-fest period of the day ended up in a long conversation with a Chabad rabbi.


What I cannot quite understand is that less than two thousand or so people showed up.

There are half a million Jews in the Bay Area - most undoubtedly support Israel - where were they?

What about all those fundy Christians who are alleged to support Israel - where were they?

So many groups sponsored the rally, but where were they?



If I can get my lazy tuchus, hangover and all, washed - dressed - and down to Justin Herman plaza, then so can everybody else - snotthathardverdomme.




So, what did Senator Feinstein say? I have no idea....


The Chronicle, in their article about the event in today's paper, gave as much print space to Todd Chrétien's Quisling pro-Hezbollah bafflegab as to what Dianne Feinstein said, and topped it off by quoting the Palestinian counterprotestors in detail.


The SF Chronicle, it should be noted, is famous for the inaccuracy of its weather reports, and for having all the best syndicated cartoons on its comics page.