Protest outside Israeli mission to the UN

Like many of my friends, the worsening situation in the middle East caused us plenty of concern. I was glued to the television for days, fuming at the violence and the lousy reporting, the talking heads on TV and the clips from the politicians who refused to do anything but talk. When I heard that there was a protest in front of the Israeli consulate nearby, I let my friends know and we planned on going together. I made 2 posters to hold up; "Stop Invading Democracies", and "Stop Using Our Billions to Oppress Millions of Innocent Civilians," and wore a kiffeyah around my neck to symbolize my solidarity with the people.

The UN headquarters is located 2 blocks from my apartment, and so is the Israeli consulate to the UN. The antiwar coalition, ANSWER, which led protests against the Iraq war, sponsored and setup the event. We got there a few minutes after it started, and I was impressed at how it was already full. One brother estimated there were at least 300 to 400 people already there by the start, and went to about 1000 people by 5:00PM. The protest spanned a city block, and was jammed with people. The police had setup metal barricades and closed one lane of the street. You could hear people cheering and a man at the front with a loudspeaker leading everyone. At least 10 or 15 Palestinian and Lebanese flags flew, and people on the sidewalk stopped to stare. All sorts of people, Muslim, Christian, and Jewish, appeared. There were college students, elderly people, and just regular Americans all in the crowd, cheering, chanting slogans, handing out flyers and signing petitions. I was surprised at how many non-Muslims attended. Typically, one would expect such a protest to be mainly by Arabs and Muslims, with photos of hijabis and brothers in kufis in the newspaper the next day. Instead, the majority of people who came were ordinary Americans. It gave me hope, that this country isn't completely misinformed and that Muslims arent the only ones who think Zionism is wrong. If I ever needed more proof of that, Neutrei Karta, an organization of Orthodox Jews, showed up to join us in the protest. I was amazed, they came holding Palestinian flags and holding signs that read "Torah forbids a Jewish state" and "Authentic Rabbis always opposed Zionism and the State of Israel." I welcomed them, thanked them for coming, and I heartily shook their hands. I was reminded of an important lesson, that you can't stereotype all followers of one religion.

The protest itself was alive, buzzing with energy. There was lots of cheering, sign waving at the cars (we protested during rush hour in front of a very busy city street), and lots of interested and puzzled faces on bystanders, and people in cars and buses that stopped at the light. There were over 100 signs, with slogans saying “Israel is a terrorist state” and “Stop US Aid to Israel" and "To exist is to resist." Many people honked their horns, some made the V symbol, and a few made disgusted faces. I heard some Jewish-looking woman made a startled face and angrily gave my friend the finger, who then laughed and replied with a V for peace, which upset her more.

I cheered myself hoarse, and showed my sign to many cars and up so the people in the Israeli offices and the helicopter above could see me. We chanted, "Free Free Palestine," "Down, Down, Israel," "Unity in Lebanon", "Olmert, Olmert, what do you say, how many kids did you kill today," "This is what democracy looks like, that is what hypocrisy looks like," "Long Live Palestine," "Free Lebanon," "No Justice, No Peace! US Out of the Middle East!" etc. With this many people, we had very high spirits and we got louder and louder. During a lull, I bellowed Takbeer and many many of us responded with a loud "Allahu Akbar!" I saw people of all kinds, one with a Rachel Corrie nametag, one with a sign written in Tibetan for peace, a bicycler with signs on his bike, a strange man who tattoed "Allahu Akbar" on one arm, and a Shia slogan on the other. (What happens if you break your wudu? Can you sleep on your side?) There were so many sisters there as well, and a sea of hijabis. Lots of Lebanese too, worried about their families, one woman explained to the television reporter that her family was trapped and unable to leave because of the bombings.

Was it worth it? Yes it was, and I would do it again. We protested on one of the hottest days of the Summer, I was drenched completely through for standing outside for 2 hours. The thermometer on the bank clock across the street spiked at 99F while we were outside, but it didn't affect the morale of the people. The Israeli ambassador later said on the news that he could hear us all the way from his office. By the way, the Israelis hid their office, in an unmarked office building. Every embassy and consulate I've seen in the neighborhood by the UN proudly emblazons their name and has flags flying on their consulate. I've passed the building so many times on the way home, but unless you looked all the way to the roof of the high-rise and saw the tiny flag in the corner, you would never have noticed it.

It went on for over 2 hours, and then the organizers withdrew, the loudspeaker stopped, and most of the people went home. The majority left, so the remaining people turned and faced the counter-protestors across the street, a small group of under a dozen people who had an Israeli and American flag and a few pro-Israel signs. However, the people remaining on our side still had intensity. "Bil ruh, bid-dam, nafdeek ya Filasteen!" they shouted. It was impossible not to join in. Suddenly, the rabbis on our side, walked over to face them, and we started cheering wildly. "Let them through!" we yelled, and the crowd parted to let the rabbis face them. They got to the front of the barricade, showing them the posters "Authentic rabbis always opposed Zionism and the State of Israel" and Israeli flags with a slash through it. I couldn't see, but I'm sure it angered the people other side to see more than just Arabs and Muslims with us.

In a beautiful display, an Arab man hoisted the Rabbi on his shoulders and carried him down the street, leading the rest of the protestors towards Times Square. It was amazing, Masha Allah.

The only thing that spoiled it slightly were two or three Muslims who held up signs with the shahadah over the white house and "Islam will Dominate," and a sign that called the Jews nazis. Someone Arabic-speaking started a chant "khaybar khaybar ya yahud, jaysh Muhammad sawfa ya'ud," which was a stupid idea considering who we had with us. Thankfully, it was brief and ended.