Or it could be that he was a member of the Muslim American Society Freedom, the National Council of Arab Americans, Free Palestine Alliance, Al-Awda - International Palestine Coalition for the Right of Return, Bay Area Women in Black, Society for Justice in Palestine, ISM, the Spartacists, the South Bay Alliance, the Anti-Zionist Jews, or Jewish Voice for Peace. All of whom were either sponsors or participants in the largest Israel-bashing fest in SF since 2006.
But the group he represented is not the point. He was utterly convinced that I was a Jew Faggot, and very vocal about it. He does not appear to much like Jew Faggots.
I have no problem with the term, so it is with profound humility and pride that I accept the appellation 'Jew Faggot' as a badge of honour.
I was also informed by several other supporters of the Palestinian cause that I was a dog, a pig, a monkey, inhuman, the son of a whore, and that I deserved to be shot, gutted, slashed open, have my children killed, and see my wife raped.
[Given that I am, apparently, a Jew Faggot, it is not clear what is meant by the term 'wife' - explication is required. Thank you.]
And by gum, they believed themselves the ones to do all that - if only there weren't so many witnesses, dash it all.
PRO-ISRAEL COUNTERDEMONSTRATION
4:45 PM - 6:45 PM
At which approximately 100 - 120 supporters of Israel meet nearly three thousand screaming Palestinians, Peace activists, Presbyterians, Pakistanis, and assorted other Protestants and politically obtuse personages.
Plus some angry people from the Yemeni mosque on
[Correction 01/05/2009: Masjid Al-Tawheed, 1227 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA 94109-5516. Denomination: Sunni (Salafi). Demographics: Predominantly Yemeni. Prayers offered: All daily prayers including formal jum'a. Language of Friday khutbah: Arabic (w/translation). Imam & Director/President: Sheikh Qaid. And regarding that mosque and its congregants, it must be mentioned that they generally speaking have improved the moral tone of the neighborhood - which is known for prostitution (both genders, and both transgenders), inebriation, and public displays of procreation, plus both partner and substance abuse. It is a lively little part of town.]
We (that being myself and five others) arrived at quarter to five with our Israeli and American flags, and it was already apparent that our side was vastly outnumbered, also that the police had lost control of the situation. The SFPD wanted to keep both sides apart. They failed utterly to do so. The anti-Israel mob occupied all of the street on the consulate side, and most of the other side of the street as well. Our people were surrounded on all sides, scattered in clumps among the screaming masses of anti-Israel activists, Muslims, and generally hate-filled opportunists. Several times the jostling and elbowing threatened to turn violent.
The cops' main focus had devolved to preventing angry confrontata from turning into active bloodshed, OR windows being broken. Nose to nose screaming matches, pushing and shoving - all fine, as long as it did not lead to punches, flying objects, shattered glass.
The SFPD actually achieved both of those humble aims, though they did not achieve anything else. They did not want to wade in to physically separate the sides, probably because of the danger that the Arab-Americans or ANSWER members would go feral.
[Besides, Jews can take care of themselves - as one bloated red-faced woman's sign said, one dead Jew means 300 dead Palestinians, and we were not even outnumbered thirty to one.]
Two hours of angry rioting and threats of death, plus several incidents that could have become bloody, do not leave me with any positive appreciation of the pro-Palestinian side. Which includes Bay Area Women in Black, Jewish Voice for Peace, Students for Justice in Palestine, and International ANSWER, in addition to agitators bused in from San Jose (South Bay Mobilization), Marin, and various heathenish pig-butt boondocks.
SLOGANS
The anti-Israel side had one slogan in English, and several more in Arabic.
The English-language slogan: "Palestine will be free, from the river to the sea" - which frankly states the intent to destroy the Jewish state and ethnically cleanse the land.
The Arabic slogans: "Itbach al Yahud" (slaughter the Jews), "Falastin balad'na w'al Yahud qalab'na" (Palestine is our land and the Jews are our dogs), "ba ruh, ba dam, nafdeek ya Falastin" (with our soul, with our blood, we will cleanse you oh Palestine), "al mawt al Yahud" (death to the Jews), "Khaybar Khaybar ya Yahud, jaish-Muhammad saya'ud" (Khaybar Khaybar oh Jews, the army of Muhammad will return).
[That last slogan refers to the battle of Khaybar where the prophet Muhammad opportunistically attacked and slaughtered the Jews who had been hospitable to another Arab tribe. The subsequent sacking of Khaybar by Muhammad's forces re-energized the brigands who had flocked to his cause, and persuaded several Bedouin tribes to join Muhammad's forces in hopes of fun and profit.]
While the Arabs screamed their desire to exterminate Jews, the English-monolingualists simply stood there happily smiling their approbation. The correct pronunciation may have been beyond them, but they approved of the sentiment. Which is proven by their resolute continued presence and solidarity.
No, they do NOT have plausible deniability - the 'river to the sea' slogan shows that they wish for a genocide against Israel, and translations of the Arabic slogans have been provided so many times that they cannot claim ignorance of the meanings.
Besides, the angry Middle-Eastern Jew-hater with a bullhorn, and the rabid white chick with an equally loud bullhorn and a grating voice, made plain in great detail what the peace movement's plan for Israel and the Jews entails, as did the numerous threats and insults directed at our side by both Arabs and Anglos.
Bay Area Women in Black, in particular, should be ashamed of themselves - we know that they read our material, and they've stood side-by-side with Arabs making the Nazi salute at many other events where promises of death and destruction were chanted by the masses (hello Ron/Ralph Berg, this means you).
JVP, seeing as it has a number of not-entirely-clued-in individuals, is perhaps excusable - their familiarity with Judaism and Hebrew is that poor that they cannot possibly be expected to have any greater facility with Arabic, and they are somewhat slow besides.
At about twenty to seven PM, the vast mob headed down Montgomery Street towards Market, obediently tailed by the SFPD, worried that windows might be broken or garbage cans overturned if they were not there to keep order. Quiet returned to a street filled with ripped signs and splintered poles, and Israeli and American flags were carefully rolled up, ready for the next lovefest.
FINAL NOTE: On our side, maybe as many as ten percent (but maybe not even five percent) were not Jewish. On the anti-Israel side, despite the huge number of politically correct Jews there, at least eighty percent were Gentile, of whom about half were not Arab. This tells me that Jews cannot rely on the Gentile world for safety and justice - there just aren't very many people who give a damn about the Jews.
But you already knew that, didn't you?
One more time: 120 to 3000. Twenty five to one. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers - the few, the proud, the Jew Faggots.
I love you guys.