# Posted 8:17 PM by Dan  

DAN’S REPORT ON THE RALLY. Like Josh, I found it to be an uplifting and positive experience. He has already described most of what transpired, but I will add a few details. I also walked past the “counter-demonstration” which could not have been more than 400 people. The mounted police officers provided a 50 yard “buffer zone” which prevented any violence between the two groups of demonstrators.

We arrived about two hours early, and listened to various crowd chants. Some people tried “Down with terrorism” but it never really rolled off the tongue so they stopped. Some others repreated, “Bin Laden nine-eleven, Arafat twenty-four seven!” One group chant went as follows: “2, 4, 6, 8, Israel is a Jewish state! 3, 5, 7, 9, never was a Palestine!” A woman calmly approached the group and remarked, “The point of this rally is not to deny the existence of Palestine” and quietly walked away. Despite differences like these, rally participants stood unified in their support for the state of Israel.

The first speaker called for peace and security for Israel, and informed the crowd that he had just returned from Jenin. He bellowed, “The massacre of Jenin was a myth. Why does the world believe it? The media tells them so.” I couldn’t help myself, so I quickly let out a “Down with the Guardian,” which elicited some nods and smiles. Importantly, he expressed concern for “our Muslim brothers” and stated “anyone saying kill Muslims should be arrested.”

Josh is right: Bibi was certainly the main attraction. He thanked Anglo Jewry for its support of Israel. Sounding like Bush immediately after 9/11, Bibi argued that the world faced a choice between two paths: appeasing terror or confronting terror. He pulled no punches when referring to Arafat. His views toward Arafat, that legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, can be summed up in three words: He must go. Some memorable quotes:
· Arafat is “an Osama Bin Laden with good PR.”
· “Sadat and King Hussein wanted peace and spoke peace. Instead of becoming the Palestinian King Hussein, Arafat became the Palestinian Saddam Hussein.”
· The Palestinians asking for a UN investigation of Jenin is like the Taliban ordering an investigation of Kandihar. The Palestinian request is in the “theatre of the absurd.”

Netanyahu did not mention Sharon’s name once, and I don’t recall any of the speakers referring to the current Prime Minister. However, Bibi’s call to “go over Arafat, not around or through him,” seems to match Sharon’s position. As far as Netanyahu is concerned, Arafat stands for the same twisted cause as Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, the Ayatollahs, and Osama Bin Laden. The Bishop of Oxford had noted the “conditions of despair” which lead to suicide bombings, which elicited the only boos of the afternoon. Netanyahu pointed out that plenty of groups have historically been deprived of their national and civic rights but do not always resort to violence. He noted Ghandi-led India, Eastern Europe during the Cold War, and Martin Luther King. His overall message was that we must never appease and must always confront terrorism.

I too am happy to have witnessed and participated in what the event’s organizers claimed was the largest pro-Israel demonstration in England’s history. As I walked past the “buffer zone” on my way back I thought about the fact that no speaker had mentioned a wall or unilateral withdrawal. The message of the day seems to be “he must go.” But who will replace him?
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