Everybody be Cool: Notes on a Counter-Protest
This is a guest-post from Alex Stein of falsedichotomies.com
If everyone behaves like Fonzie nobody gets hurt. Having taken a day off work to stand against the fascism of Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir in Umm-el-Fahm, this was my hope against hope. Our bus was cheered as it arrived in town, our gesture of solidarity appreciated by the town’s men-folk (for it was, mostly, men-folk), the gentle claps of a cricket match rather than the whoops of a street-battle, perhaps a sign of how strange we all seemed to the town’s residents, or perhaps – I thought – a signal of the peaceful opposition that was to follow. The bus was organised by Peace Now, but there were also members of Meretz and Hadash there, everyone in bed together for the day, although Labour members were notable in their absence, no doubt getting ready for the big vote to decide whether or not to enter the government later this evening.
As we came down the hill with our banners and our sloganeering (“Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies”, “Fascism won’t pass”), I became aware of a clear division among the protesters already in place. On one side Israeli-Arab men, some with Palestinian flags, many in keffiyehs, pastiches of their counterparts in the territories or abroad. On the other side Jews and Arabs, Zionists and anti-Zionists and non-Zionists, earnestly shouting the shouts of peace, holding banners up high. This was the welcome the 100 far-rightists could expect.
If fascists marched through my parents’ neighbourhood in London, I’d expect that non-Jews would oppose them. This is why I came to Umm-el-Fahm. I try to be a libertarian, and I think the Supreme Court took the correct decision in permitting the march, but in doing so it also implicitly gave people the right to stand in opposition, and this is the reason I came. Baruch Marzel thinks he’s oh-so-clever, asking what’s wrong with him marching through sovereign Israeli territory with the sovereign Israeli flag. Needless to say, he won’t be taking a similar march through Mea Sharim, another place known for its ambivalence bordering on antipathy for Zionism.
I have little time for the Balad-style nationalism or Islamism that some people suggest is dominant in Umm-el-Fahm. But I’m aware of the context. Having visited the city I found that our government has done precious little to win hearts and minds in places like this, and that only when I am confident we are doing everything we can to fully integrate Israeli-Arabs into the broader polity will I feel comfortable chastising Israeli-Arabs when they demonstrate hostility against the state. By standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the people of Umm-el-Fahm, then, I hoped to show Marzel and his clique that they were hopelessly outnumbered and that Israeli-Arabs could count on Jewish support when threatened by fascism.
We arrived at 8:45; the march was scheduled to kick off at 9:30. We stood around in the steadily increasing rain, the border police looking on, everyone ready to play their part in the pantomime. The march was only permitted on the minor roads of the town, but nobody seemed to know what the final route would be, or if the demonstrators would even march past the main rump of the counter-protest. I ducked into a restaurant to buy some cashews, unsurprised to see it defy the municipal calls for a general strike. “This is great for business,” I joked to the owner. “You should ask Marzel to come back every week!” “If only,” he replied with a wink.
Now the rain was really beating down fast, emboldening everybody, as if they had never seen water fall from the sky before. A heavy shudder of thunder got everyone jumping like the beat dropping at a rave; anticipation was suddenly on everyone’s faces. But still no sign of Marzel. By now it was clear that he wouldn’t be coming round our way; people began hitching lifts up the hill to seek him out, but I only realised this was happening before it was too late. That’s right; I came all the way to Umm-el-Fahm to oppose fascism and didn’t even manage to find one of the fascists, apart from maybe two Neturei Karta members with predictable provocations about Zionism on their banners.
There was some trouble at our end though; a couple of people arrested, the tensions ratcheted up a notch or two, teenagers running off up the hill as if on a mission. Later I found out that there had been 28 injuries, mainly policemen, plus a Meretz MK who I had earlier seen smoking a cigarette, like Fonzie, enjoying the attention of the crowd. The best response to the provocative march would have been to stand loudly but peacefully in opposition, to avoid the temptation to spill over into low-level violence, to set an example that others might follow. The divisions between Jew and Arab in this country – not to mention the divisions among members of the Israeli left – meant this wasn’t possible. Fonzie’s dictum wasn’t followed, and I once again left a political gathering in disappointment, this time unsure whether to return, frankly no longer seeing the point of it all.
Comments
| 24 March 2009, 2:12 pm |
I’m unclear as to who did what to who, did the march eventually take place in the town or was there just a punch up on the hill?
| 24 March 2009, 2:14 pm |
At least it’s raining at last Alex -that has to be good news!
| 24 March 2009, 2:25 pm |
Good post. What’s the equivalent of Umm el-Fahm in Hebrew and what does the Hebrew toponym mean, please? I see the Hebrew script on Wiki…but I can’t read it…there’s no transliteration.
| 24 March 2009, 2:28 pm |
It’s Umm al-Fahm in Hebrew, Job.
| 24 March 2009, 2:29 pm |
Someone -Believe it or not, nor have the residents of Umm-el-Fahm.
Israelinurse – summer is on the way soon though!
Jon D – So am I! Although the punch-up was up the hill; the march did take place, and took about an hour. The punch-up, I think, took place separately.
Job – It means mother of coal in Arabic. Not sure what a toponym is, but the Hebrew script on the wikipage just Umm-el-Fahm, a transliteration
| 24 March 2009, 2:33 pm |
Or less literally, “source of coal”, for the wood-burning coal made historically.
Alex – there have been one or two Arabs in recent decades who have declared Israel not only an “illegal entity”, but one that needs to be eradicated by force. Some of them even travelled to Damascus to conspire with those who have actively sought to do so through bombs and guns.
This is not the case for Mea Shearim residents, 99% of whom regard even Neturey Karta as beneath scum.
| 24 March 2009, 2:37 pm |
You are correct; indeed I refer to this phenomenon in my piece. Does that mean we can tar all the residents of Umm-el-Fahm with the same brush, most of whom want nothing more than a quiet life?
| 24 March 2009, 2:41 pm |
Here are some Israeli news reports on the rightist demonstration and its aftereffects:
“Police chief: We proved protests can be held anywhere” at http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3691433,00.html
& “Deputy police chief, Meretz MK injured in rightists’ march” at
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3691286,00.html
It seems Israeli rightists have decided to copy the Protestant Orange Order tactic in Northern Ireland of marching provocatively through Catholic areas. Wonder what else from Northern Ireland will be imported to Israel & Palestine?
| 24 March 2009, 2:44 pm |
Great article, Alex
Don’t suppose you have more pictures of your counter-demo?
| 24 March 2009, 2:49 pm |
Isn’t this a replay of a similar march many years ago by a bunch Kahanists through an Israeli Arab town? (It might have been Umm-el-Fahm.) Or did they cancel that march? I do remember a lot of Israeli leftists gathering to protest.
| 24 March 2009, 3:01 pm |
It’s Umm al-Fahm in Hebrew, Job
Thank you…a toponym is a word class signifying a geographical area by the way.
| 24 March 2009, 4:10 pm |
Wonder what else from Northern Ireland will be imported to Israel & Palestine?
Hopefully peace (he asks wistfully)?
| 24 March 2009, 6:54 pm |
Good article.
But why do you label Marzel a fascist?
| 24 March 2009, 7:08 pm |
Jonathan, great to hear from you! have missed you and your blog. How are you and your family doing? Will the Head Heeb soon becoming active again? Would really look forward to that.
About Northern Ireland peace agreement being a model for Israeli-Palestinian peace. It is possible, as long as Israel & Palestine do not end up being ruled by political & religious extremists as happen to the Protestant and Catholic communities in Northern Ireland. That would not make a stable ground for lasting peace in Israel & Palestine even less likely than the current situation in Ulster is.
| 24 March 2009, 7:12 pm |
Good article. I hate Marzel.
Just a question, Alex: were you at the counterprotest in Jaffa last year when 1000 Arabs from all over the country marched through the city chanting: “We’ll redeem you, Jaffa, with spirit and blood” and holding Palestinian flags? Don’t you think that was similar to this?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/969634.html
| 25 March 2009, 5:51 am |
Arj – because he supports transferring non-Jewish citizens of the state elsewhere. Fabian from Israel – I think it’s a bit more complicated than equating the two.
| 25 March 2009, 11:45 am |
This is the first poor article I’ve seen on Harry’s, throwing about “fascist” as a substitute for analysis.
Will Harry’s invite Marzel to post an article in response?
Or, like the Guardian, does it believe only the left to have the right to (politically-correct) comment?
[N.B. I holdno brief for Marzel but find this article too one-sided and Guardian-like.]
| 25 March 2009, 2:34 pm |
Thank you…a toponym is a word class signifying a geographical area by the way.
Oh. I thought it referred to Topo Gigio. ;-}
| 25 March 2009, 5:52 pm |
Thanks Alex and David. Unfortunately, THH isn’t coming back: the law is a jealous mistress, and I barely have time for reading about international affairs these days, much less writing.
The Northern Ireland peace – which is, after all, a single-state solution – isn’t likely to work in Israel/Palestine. I’d look for something more like the Annan plan for Cyprus or maybe like the Alternative Palestinian Agenda: two autonomous states with the right to define their own citizenship, a very limited right of return, a binational overlay to aid in dispute resolution, and membership in the EU or an equivalent regional organization to make sure everyone behaves. The only thing I’d really add to the Annan formula is that each state should keep its own army, Bosnia-style, for the time being. There isn’t enough trust to make it work otherwise.
It’s the idea of peace between peoples with historic hatreds that, I hope, although more despairingly every year, could be imported from Northern Ireland.
| 27 March 2009, 1:56 am |
Jonathan, I just read the “Alternative Palestinian Agenda” and it looks like a rehash of the 1947 UN proposal — including a Palestinian state that goes well beyond the 1967 borders. At this point in time this is pure fantasy.
“Needless to say, he won’t be taking a similar march through Mea Sharim, another place known for its ambivalence bordering on antipathy for Zionism.”
It’s Mea Shearim, and your comment is tendentious and weasely. Few Mea Shearim residents have taken up arms against the State of Israel.