Sunday, January 11, 2009

Massive turn-out for pro-Israel rally


The organisers estimated there were 35,000 people at today's rally in Trafalgar Square. The BBC (for reasons partly explained below) estimated a much lower number - 4,000. That number is impossible since not only was the entire square packed but there were also many people on the outside. I would estimate the numbers as about 10,000 - a fantastic turnout so early on a cold Sunday morning.

More than anything this was a response to the despicable media campaign that has created the perception that the whole British public is outraged by Israel's actions in Gaza. I felt that there was a real determination by so many Jews to set the record straight.

Today's rally will, of course, be given only a fraction of the media coverage of yesterday's pro-Hamas hatefest. But I'd like to think that anybody who witnessed both rallies will have been struck by the difference in the message today (Peace for Israel and Gaza by stopping Hamas terror) with that of yesterday ("Destroy Israel"). Today: dignified with compassion for all victims. Yesterday: violent, with compassion and love for the terrorist perpetrators and hatred for the Israeli victims.

Yesterday Lindsey German of the "Stop the War Coalition" said that the sheer number of people protesting meant that the government had to do what the protesters demanded and this included boycotting Israel and expelling the Ambassador. Think about that for a moment. It is a bizarre statement on so many levels. On the one hand this woman, who claims to speak for the "weak", the "oppressed", and the "disenfranchised" is advocating that a count of the number of activists on the streets should dictate government policy. That sounds a bit like "might is right" to me - the very thing they accuse Israel of. Also it means that if you can get enough Islamafascists and their useful idiots of the Left on the streets then you have to not only listen to what they say but you must also do what they say. So I suppose that means that if next time they demand the public execution of all Jews then that is what the Government should do to make the mob happy. It is also ironic to note that the "peace protesters" (as the media portrayed them) openly support a terrorist organisation and openly called for the violent destruction of the state of Israel. Peace for everybody else but violence against Israel. And of course never a mention of the suffering of the Israelis under daily bombardment.

Update: Just seen the CNN news report about the rally this evening and it was breathtaking in its misrepresentation. According to this report there was as many anti-Israel demonstrators protesting the rally as there were pro-Israel demonstrators (whom they described as 'several hundred'). Moreover, their angle was that the bulk of the anti-Israel demonstrators were Jews. They duly interviewed one of the Jews for Justice for Palestinians fruitcakes and then focused on the obligatory Neturei Karta lunatics. They also stated that a massive police presence was necessary to keep the two sets of demonstrators apart. For organisations like the BBC and CNN it is clear that even if one million people had turned out for a pro-Israeli rally with a half a dozen counter-demonstrators, their spin would have been to present it as some kind of a tie in numbers. Theydo not want the public to know that there a large number of decent people who understand and support Israel and who are prepared to reclaim the streets from the Hamas supporters.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Edgar, look how The Times goes for a 50-50 “balance” of the pro-Israel rally and the anti-Israel counter-demo. The second paragraph (out of a total eleven) is half-and-half about each demo, and then the last five paragraphs, from “Across to the west . . .” down to the end, are all about the counterdemonstration only.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5494750.ece

Chas Newkey-Burden said...

What a great rally and what a great post.