Pro-Israel protest in Dublin

international | rights, freedoms and repression | news report

Sunday January 11, 2009 22:54

by TMcG

Christians and Israelis gather on Kildare Street

About 50-70 people attended the pro-Israel protest at Leinster House today. It was hard to see exactly how many were there because so many media people went over to interview them. Someone said they counted twenty different journalist at one stage.

The majority of the people attending were quiet and subdued, with a bit of praying and singing (more like humming) going on, but three or four stood at the barrier and shouted abuse at the Palestinian counter demonstration. This was called at short notice, and outnumbered the Zionists by about three or four to one.

The Pro-Israeli group consisted mainly of fundamentalist Christians with a sprinkling of Israeli citizens and a few hangers on. A few Jewish people showed up to look but declined to join the protest.

For some reason the Gardaí paid hardly any attention to the Zionists, instead concentrating almost exclusively on the pro-Palestinian counter demonstration. At one point two protesters with one Palestinian flag on the corner of Molesworth Street were being guarded by no less than seven cops. Some protesters who got too close to the Zionists when they moved off towards the Israeli embassy were pulled and dragged around by the police.

Passers-by who stopped to see what was going on were overwhelmingly supportive of the pro-Palestinian demonstrators. One elderly lady in a raincoat stood opposite the Zionists as they walked onto Nassau Street shouting "Shame on you" at them. Unfortunately she spoke so softly that her voice was drowned out by the wind on the video footage.

Both groups went to Israeli embassy where- separated by a line of cops - everyone chanted at each other for a while.