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Tom Sherman Anti-Terror Demonstration, featuring the Bus 19 exhibit, in Berkeley, on January 16, 2005. On January 29, 2004, a Palestinian suicide bomber climbed aboard Bus 19 i n Jerusalem and detonated his explosives. The explosion killed 11 people , injured 50, and destroyed the interior of the bus. The mangled shell of the bus was subsequently sent to The Hague, in the N etherlands, where it was displayed outside the International Court of Ju stice to protest the court's ruling against Israel's separation barrier -- which is intended to prevent attacks exactly like the one that destro yed Bus 19. A Christian humanitarian group now called The Jerusalem Conn ection subsequently bought the bus and had it shipped to the United Stat es, where, loaded on the back of a flatbed trailer, it has since made st ops at anti-terror rallies across the country. At none of its previous appearances did the bus stir much controversy. Ev erything was going smoothly until a group called Israel Action Committee of the East Bay decided to bring the bus for a three-hour exhibit in Be rkeley, California on January 16, 2005. Word of the upcoming anti-terror rally quickly spread to pro-Palestinian activist groups in the Bay Area , and a counter-demonstration was planned -- based on the complaint that the bus exhibit was "out of context" and failed to illuminate the real "complexities" of the sources of terrorism. Meanwhile, Israel boosters p lanned to show up in support of the exhibit, and to express their condem nation of terrorism in general. Shortly before the event, I asked the organizers if they expected a signi ficant counter-demonstration of any kind. A silent vigil, perhaps, they said, but beyond that -- really, who would dare to come out and protest in favor of terror?
Before I even reached the site of the bus exhibit, I encountered the prot esters gathering across the street. And I realized immediately that the intifada had arrived in America.
Click here (or on the photo above) to see a video of the pro-Palestini an protesters shouting at Jews attending the bus exhibit across the stre et (QuickTime, 49mb). Here's a transciption of the video: Man: If you are afraid to die, GET OUT!
Many of the younger protesters between the ages of (approximately) seven and sixteen wore masks made out of kaffiyehs (Palestinian scarves). And I was soon to discover further evidence that the Palestinians were using their children as their first line of attack.
I crossed the street to look at the bus next to MLK Park (also known as P rovo Park) and listen to the program of visiting speakers scheduled for the event. Before I even made it to t he stage area I encountered a trio of very young Palestinian children wh o had (presumably) been sent by their parents into the crowd of Jews in front of the event stage. All three were holding signs depicting gruesom ely mutilated bodies. This child, about four or five years old, held a s ign with the words "Organ Thieves" below a photo of a disemboweled corps e -- apparently a reference to the bizarre blood libel conspiracy theory widely accepted in the Muslim world, that Jews steal bodily organs and eyeballs from dead Palestinians. I couldn't tell how many people in the audience grasped the implications of the boy's sign.
Click here (or on the photo above) to see just how close the confrontation came to becoming violent (QuickTime, 58mb). Here's a transcription of the video: Palestinian #1: How many people have you killed? You suck all of American tax dollars, and you use it against an unarmed population. Notice how he does not distinguish between Ameri can Jews and Israeli Jews. Palestinian #3: Lunges to attack the Israel supporter, but is pulled awa y in the nick of time. As the pro-Palestinian protesters regrouped, I realized that they were no t stationed across the street by choice -- they were ordered to remain t here by the police, who were trying to preserve the peace and prevent an y outbreaks of violence.
Click here (or on the photo above) to open a new page with pictures of Bus 19 and speakers at the main event. After a short time observing the bus itself and the main stage, I spent t he rest of the afternoon mingling with protesters on both sides on the a isle.
San Francisco Chronicl e's article about the Bus 19 event, in which the writer (in an otherwise woefully incomplete description) quotes the Palestinian protesters chan ting "Two, four, six, eight, we are martyrs, we can't wait." No one (at least that I've encounte red) who was present that day remembers hearing them say it, and many pe ople who weren't there simply refuse to believe it happened. Well, I have proof not only that it happened, but that the chant also had another part that the Chronicle reporter misssed.
Click here to hear a group of Palestinian protesters chanting in prai se of Islamic "martyrdom" (mp3 file, 570kb). Please note that the sound quality of the audio clip, due to the circumstances of the on-site recor ding, is rather low; extraneous environmental noise makes the chanting h ard to hear, especially at the beginning of the clip when the protesters had not yet coordinated their chanting. As the clip progresses, however , the words become clearer. Here's the transcription: Palestinian protesters: One, three, five, seven, all our martyrs go to he aven! The sound of a shofar (a Jewish musical instrument made from a ram's hor n played during religious ceremonies) blown by a pro-Israel protester dr owns out much of the rest of the chanting.
There was a substantial group of counter-counter-protesters, who came not so much to attend the official , sedate bus event, but rather to stand in opposition to the pro-terror protesters. This pro-Israel coalition was a mixture of Jews, Christians, Protest Warriors, San Francisco Voice for Israel members, anti-idiotari ans, and just average people with the peculiar opinion that terror must be opposed at all levels.
One pro-Israel protester brought with him a shofar made from a very long horn; he seemed to be quite an expert at playing it, and he used his ski lls to drown out the anti-Israel protesters at every opportunity.
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