SURPRISE DEMONSTRATION, FRIDAY MAY 11

Received via-via:

The San Francisco Police Department has notified Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxx of a rally and demonstration planned in San Francisco this Friday, May 11, 2007.
A number of pro-Palestinian supporters will rally at the Civic Center around 1:00 p.m., after which they are expected to march to the Israeli Consulate at 456 Montgomery Street.
The anticipated route of the march is from the Civic Center down Market Street, North on Kearny, East on California, and North on Montgomery.
Marchers are expected to be in front of 456 Montgomery from about 2 p.m. until as late as 6 p.m.



I don't know who these pro-Palestinians are, and how they contacted each other.
The timing suggests SF State students, angry activist Muslims, and other less-than-fully employable people, in addtion to an opportunistic feed-off from the Int'l ANSWER rally demanding the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles scheduled for noon in front of the court house at Seventh and Mission -- that's only a short distance away from the Civic Center, and ANSWER has been known to tack their anti-Semitic and anti-Israel message onto other protests. Their pattern is "protest the war - and Israel", "protest international imperialism - and Israel", "protest sex-tourists in the third world - and Israel", "protest witch-hunts against illegals - and Israel".
An Int'l ANSWER protest seems empty and incomplete unless they also get to protest Israel.


The consulate is only a few blocks from my office, and counter-protesting the anti-Israel crowd is more or less a milchemes mitzvah. I'll be bringing my Israeli flags and my bad-attitude. If you're in the downtown tomorrow, I hope to see you there, on my side of the street. Together we shall protest for Israel.


Final note: SF State University is a hotbed of anti-Israel activism and the simmering anti-Semitism that goes with it. In some respects, SFSU is worse than the University of California at Berkeley. The SFSU campus really does feel like hostile territory, whereas Berkeley is often more like a playground infested with behavioural-problem kids.