UNHAPPY ISRAEL-HATERS

The anti-Zionists are sad and hurt. The poor dears! And who can blame them? We arrived early to counterdemonstrate against their hate-fest, and occupied the sidewalk space that THEY wanted to use.
Oh, we are such spoilers!


Neener, neener, neener.


And to make matters worse, we refused to move. We just stood there, like oxen, gaily waving our Israeli and American flags, even when they asked us to please go away. Acted like we couldn't understand a word.


'No, we're here now, and we ain't going anywhere. Get used to it.'



Remembering the Nakba 61 years - Mon 5:30pm @Israeli Consulate, SF

Yesterday evening qualifies as a victory. Instead of the pro-Israel side being outnumbered five to one, for a change there were equal numbers on both sides.
Well, the Jew-haters actually did have six more people than we did, but three of them were stoners, so intellectually it evens out.
[" - Hi Rusty! You don't remember me, do you? You're completely out of it, you can't recognize ANY of us! Not a single one. Did they offer you a plate of spaghetti for joining their protest? Musta bin some righteous revolutionary spliff, huh? - "]


The anti-Zionists of the hour were a coterie or claque of Students for Justice in Palestine, who intended to mark the sixty-first anniversary of Israeli re-independence by screaming angrily at the building which houses the consulate.


Except that there weren't that many pro-Palestinians who showed up. Slightly more than two dozen, with an insufficient number of flags, banners, and signs.
Also there: Lily Haskell's angry and dysfunctional Moroccan friend, who glowered and sulked very prettily. And a corpulent gentleman who reminded me of nothing so much as a prissy Bengali law-clerk.
Plus, of course, Rusty - Telegraph Avenue's very own fossil.


Because we wouldn't move, they moved.

I guess screaming anti-Semitic invective requires actually standing opposite the Zionists.
After repetitious chanting and unimaginative megaphonic insults from the other side of the street, they dribbled away. Over a dozen passers-by thanked us during the course of the event for being there and supporting Israel. Several drivers on Montgomery Street cheered and gave us the thumbs up. We handed out leaflets clarifying our pro-Israel point of view, and answered the questions of curious and supportive strangers.

Let's just say it was a very positive experience. For us, at any rate.