Israel in the Gardens: A celebration of all things Israeli and Jewish held every year in San Francisco's Yerba Buena Gardens - sounds innocuous, no? Some people think otherwise.
SUNDAY, JUNE 1st
Attempting to pish on everyone else this year were Bay Area Women in Black, JVP, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), AlAwda, and a multitude of committed supporters of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah, as well as an entire slew of Stalinists, crypto-Stalinists, neo-Stalinists, meta-Stalinists, anarcho-Stalinists, vegan femmo-Stalinists, wicca-Stalinists........
[Jim Harris was also there. He's too inchoate to qualify as any of the above, he's probably just lonesome. Hi Jim.]
ABOUT BAWIB
Bay Area Women in Black includes all variations of the above. Self-hate does marvelous things to people. BAWIB members always apologetically identify themselves as Jews, although not all of BAWIB are in fact Jewish women - several are Presbyterian or Episcopalian.
[While I can thoroughly understand and sympathize with their Presbyterian and Episcopalian self-hatred, I am confused by them making Jews the target thereof. Jews are what's wrong with Anglo-Protestantism??!?]
PAUL LARUDEE
Larudee (of ISM) was also there - he is not a woman, despite his haberdashery saying that there are unresolved issues.
Paul Larudee, a fervently anti-Israel conspirator, is a sixty-one year old gentleman from Northern California whose sole field of expertise lies in piano tuning, and whose knowledge of middle-eastern matters originates with friends in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Hamas (which he defends as a peaceful, mainstream democratic movement).
[As an example thereof, note this article:
http://www.tikkun.org/rabbi_lerner/news_item.2006-01-16.8453650708 . And please also observe that Tikkun Magazine, from whence it comes, is not precisely a friend.]
Hi Paul, nice to see you again. Why are you wearing that thing on your head?
PHOTOS AND VIDEOS
Given the many unique individuals on the other side, a cultural anthropologist could have had just as much fun as a psychiatric researcher. As Zombietime's photo reportage illustrates:
http://www.zombietime.com/israel_in_the_gardens_2008/
[It also shows the positive side of the day. Entirely unlike the BAWIB report, here:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/06/01/18503762.php - worth scoping out too, if only to understand what a poisonously self-righteous coven flies under the cloak of Women in Black.]
For video of the protests and counter protests, please visit:
http://www.youtube.com/user/bluetruth36
A WONDERFUL CELEBRATION
On the bright side, the self-important ladies and lady wanna-bees of No Time To Celebrate (usually including Sarah Kershnar, Kinneret Israel, Perry Bellow-Handelman, Libbey Goldberg, Ms. Eric Romann, Mr./Ms./M?. Jaron Browne, et altres) didn't find a single opportunity to disrupt events inside, so instead they peaceably enjoyed some fine falafel and hummus in the food-court.
[No Time to Celebrate, also known as Na-Na-Nakba:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/notimetocelebrate/ ]
Over twenty thousand normal attendees enjoyed a sunny day in a beautiful location, great music, the company of friends, plus a multitude of booths with interesting organizations and free literature. No matter the distant tumult of the Keffiyeh-wearing cryptos outside - the day was barely marred by protests.
[Note: The keffiyeh, also known as a shemag or ghutra, is the checkered tea-cloth worn on the head to guard against the sun. Traditionally it is held in place with an 'iqal (heavy braided rope band), but stylish radikaler-jugend prefer to wear it around the neck, a la Rachel Ray. Black checks are associated with Palestinian Terrorism and Al Qaeda, red checks with Jordanian Bedouin and Saudis, though some kopstukken of AlQaeda wear either. Paul Larudee, mentioned above, favours red checks.]
THE SF POLICE
I am still furious that the police broke their stated agreement and allowed women in black and other provocateurs to walk on our side of the street to harass attendees, and did not keep the other side from yanking an Israeli flag out of the hands of one of us (officer Thompson, badge 4223, a particular pissant in that regard), then tried to prevent 'reconquest' of said flag.
The first police on site had been very reasonable.
About an hour into the protests, new police arrivals replaced most of the decent cops, and these officers were far less tolerant - although they seemed to have no animosity whatsoever towards the other side. I got the distinct impression that they felt that confronting da jooz was a jolly good thing.
Captain Balmy, who I believe arrived later, was clearly on the side of the anti-Zionists.
I suspect that there are members of the police who have been told to take sides against us, or that it is okay to do so if they wish. Supervisors Daly and Ammiano are NOT on our side - Ammiano is dangerous in that regard. It may be very good for someone's career in SF to be on unofficial record as "not in the pocket of the Jews".
Unlike last year, there is no strong indication of collusion between the anti-Israel activists and certain police officers this time.
CHILDREN HOLDING FLAGS
Many kids and adolescents were willing to hold an Israeli or American flag, even enthusiastic about doing so, and maintained their vigorous presence on the protest line for several hours, with the support of their parents, most of whom proudly took photos.
At one point a number of teenagers headed across the street en-masse to march flags and signs past sour-looking Jihadophiles - the police had no clue how to handle this incident.
["Do we arrest them? Do we club them fiercely? Tear-gas them? Do we really, really want to piss-off twenty thousand Jews?"]
EN FIN
Our booth inside the garden was busy till the very end, with our volunteers answering questions, handing out literature, signing people on to our mailing-list. We explained our positions, and got lots of good feedback from hundreds of people. So, despite being tense, angry, and having a screaming headache afterwards, I am pleased with how the day went.
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Over a hundred people signed on to our mailing list.
Others expressed their love and appreciation with the green stuff. (No, not tea!)
But by far, the best part for me was watching a group of young people mobilize- they learned that evil cannot be ignored- that it must be directly and forcibly confronted.
I personally pissed off Bay Area Women in Black. Jewish Voice for Peace. Several members of the ISM and Al Awda. Several members of the SFPD. And Kate Raphael. Especially Kate Raphael, who was taking part in some kind of street theater that resembled nothing as much as a police sobriety test. Does she even realize what a cliche she has become?
It was a good day. A really good day.
And I remembered when I used to be the nice one. When did that change?
That probably changed when you realized the other side fights dirty.
These are not decent people we are dealing with - the best that can be said for such individuals as Kate Raphael, Jim Harris, and Paul Larudee, is that they are profoundly crippled.
[Additionally, it can be said that Kate's blog is not entirely unreadable. I found the piece about the tattoo quite interesting, from a clinical point of view.]
The Nakbahistas, on the other hand, are a complete waste of breatheable air.
If for no other reason, this was a worthwhile read just for having added 'nakbahistas' to my lexicon. thanks! :-)
"the other side fights dirty"
Maybe I'll just stick to fighting silly. At least for this week, until my current existential crisis passes
Can Chicken dance Elmo's skeleton come out and play with me tommorrow?
Chicken Dance Elmo's ghost will definitely be there. All he still needs is a black cloth.
Fighting silly is far and away the best way of being able to live with one's self: it invariably makes the opposition look sillier, and is just plain fun. It trumps fighting dirty every time.
I LOVED the little kid with the yellow sign next to WIB. So cheeky. :)
You think the SFPD is actively motivated/manipulated by symathiezers of these terrophiles, or it's just the leftism in Frisco's air? (Or, alternatively a mixture of both... somewhere between...)
You think the SFPD is actively motivated/manipulated
Some elements, yes, most definitely.
One of the supervisors employs as a staff-member a radical anti-Zionist activist who has been arrested a few times. This is known to that supervisor, and it can be argued that the supervisor in question not only protects his staffer, but probably supports and encourages the actions. When the next election comes around, some very valid questions may be raised.
At previous events, certain police officers behaved in ways that can only be explained by their having an antipathy towards Jews, Israel, and Jewish activists.
Either that, or they genuinely believe that two dozen Zionists could massacre two hundred angry Muslims. Which begs the question: do they really believe the hype about Zionists, or are they dumb as a bunch of prewar Poles and Ukrainians in that regard? How unconnected to reality are they?
Seeing as two of our key memebers are crippled middle-aged lawyers, and excepting the juveniles, none of our core activists are "young", you have to wonder.
But on the other hand, several of the anti-Israel Jews and anti-Zionist activists are also involved in social causes, the labour movement, housing for the poor, and various other feel-good socially aware issues, they have connections. And in SF, connections means pull. Especially among the mid-level politicals who influence day-to-day bureaucratic affairs and police work. So part of it is just SF. Part of it is active anti-Semitism. And part of it is just unhappy coincidence.
יהי רצון שכל השמאלנים יהיו כמוך!
Some good photos up at
http://www.sfvoiceforisrael.org/gallery/v/Israel+in+the+gardens+June+1+2008/
Some not so good photos, too.
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