SABBATH OFF TO A ROCKY START

Links to a near-lynching in front of the Israeli Consulate on Montgomery Street.
Friday Jan. 2 at 5:15 PM, more or less.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMXH81ctj2o&eurl=http://www.zombietime.com/zomblog/?p=208

Or here, with commentary, on Zombie's blog:
http://www.zombietime.com/zomblog/?p=208


Five pro-Israel protestors.
Five hundred or more keffiyeh-wearing people.
One hundred to one.
I still think those are do-able odds.
Though I've never seen cops have hysterics before.



THE SCENE

The protests began at around noon at Powell and Market, wandered through the downtown fifteen hundred strong(*), then ended up in front of the consulate at four thirty. I could hear the crowd screaming
'ba rooh, ba dam, nafdeek ya falasteen' as they passed by on Montgomery Street.
[* Fifteen hundred is an educated guess, but it might have been as many as two thousand.]

The five of us headed over to the consulate shortly afterwards, with three Israeli flags and three signs.
[Our signs: 'STOP ROCKETS FROM GAZA', 'HAMAS MUST BE DESTROYED', and 'HAMAS HAD IT COMING']

Once they saw us, the Palestinian side started screaming threats and insults, and one of them jumped up and down on an Israeli flag while erecting his middle digit. Shoes were also waved.
[They can't spit very far. At least not without significant blow-back.]



FRACAS

Several young Palestinian gallants started hitting one of our group (a middle-aged woman), at which point one of us rushed over and tried to break some ribs. Then the cops dragged us off, and tried to herd us away from the points of contact. Someone on the Palestinian side threw a handful of small change, and in addition to the middle-digit salute some of them made the money-grubbing gesture. Shortly afterwards the yelling mob crashed over the barriers screaming threats, and the cops had a fit - several officers pushed us inside a nearby building, where we were made to stay for a while, after which they drove us to somewhere else in a small caravan of police vehicles.


Other counter-protestors?
Well, pro-Israel is rather spread out, not very well organized, and mostly fully employed.
Anti-Israel is distinctly urban, and either unemployable, local student, or running liquor stores in the seedier sections of Oakland and SF. At that point in time, most of the pro-Palestinian Jewish protestors and their Intellectually anti-Semitic Gentile friends (JVP, Women in Black, et al) were heading towards Market street to go home, leaving the rowdies entirely un-babysat. And seeing as the anti-Israel manifestation was a well-organized spontaneous demonstration, the five of us were the only counter-demonstrators to show up.


Cigars?
Had to chuck one, hardly smoked, when the cops hustled us into a lobby of a nearby office building and barricaded the door. Still wish they hadn't jammed us into the building quite so soon - I had barely lit up, and had to waste nearly an entire cigarillo.


Thoughts during this sequence of events:
"I can take out three, maybe four of five, before they get me."
"Probably won't feel any pain till I wake up dead."
"There's a few of them I can cripple, easily."

Thoughts afterwards:
"I wish someone would whack that bitch Anja Meulenbelt....., oh, and Harry van Bommel too."
"Nearly getting killed is very dehydrating....., time for tea."
"Good thing my uncle and aunt will never hear about this."
"Glock 17, nine millimeter. Or a Browning GP35."
"Next time hit higher and get 'em in the face."


Adrenaline is marvelous. It cleared out my sinus head-ache and my stuffy nose.
I have never felt so alive. Thanks guys.