Although technically today's counter of the pro-Hamas rally in Balboa Park was not an official San Diego Protest Warrior action, it was in spirit of the San Diego Chapter of Protest Warrior. We met at the statue of El Cid in front of the Art Museum and the proceeded to the fountain in front of the Science Museum, where all the action was. Our turn-out was surprisingly good: News 8 reported about equal crowds on both sides, which it probably was. Although, initially we had slightly more people. Both sides just stood there and shouted at each other, but generally it was pretty peaceful. We tried to keep a distance of several feet between us and the pro-Hamas people in order to keep the police happy. The cops were trying to maintain neutrality but, as often in these situations, had their sympathies on our side. Apparently at one point one woman from the Hamas side started choking on something and was saved by a Jewish doctor from our crowd. A cop present at that scene commented: "That's about sums it up". I hope I will be able to get more details of that particular episode. Overall it went pretty good, and we all had some fun. The only downside was that we left after the Hamas guys did their march because we thought that they were done. Turns out, they stayed. But they did not stay unopposed: some of our guys showed up late for the main thing and ended up being our 2nd shift. So, it all worked out. Below are some pictures and videos that I took.
These are 2 crowds with some distance in between.
Our crowd looks bigger.
Note conspicuous absence of American flags on their side.
More of us and them.
Us from the back.
We chant.
They teach their kids to hate while they are young.
San Diego Fox 5 TV crew.
Below are the short videos I took with my camera. When we were chanting, we were at disadvantage: the Hamas guys had a couple of megaphones, but we had just our voices. Still, we managed. For those who still has illusions that the Hamas crowd wants 2 peaceful democratic states, Arab and Jewish, living side by side, pay close attention to the Hamas crowd chants. Their chants about "From the river to the sea..." should put an end to any illusions about their peaceful intentions.
Finally, some of our signs. They are pretty self-explanatory.
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