Candlelit Vigil Rages out of Control

Have just come back from what was probably the best demo I have been to in a long time. I had no intention to go but was just coming back from another meeting and passed by it. I was immediately prejudiced against it because it was organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which campaigns for a 2-state solution, ie are happy to allow Zionists to hold on to 78% of the stolen land. PSC are generally very pc and the chants are very lefty - they even condemn chants such as "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" as anti-Semitic. So wasnt I shocked when I walked by what was alegedly a "candlelit vigil" to "make Margaret Beckett see the light", and saw a loud and angry Lebanese mob of about 300 shouting "Death to Israel"

I crossed the road to join in.

There was a real buzz about the demo with men, women and children all chanting in unison, everything ranging from "Peace in Lebanon" to "Down Down Israel" to "Ya Nasrullahai, ya Habibi, Fahshe Fahshe Tel Avivi" ("Oh Nasrullah, Oh My Dear One, Bomb Bomb Tel Aviv"). My personal favourite could also be heard - it had been a long time since I heard this one at a demo and it filled my heart with glee.

"Khayber Khayber ya Yahood, Jash Muhammad Sawfa 'Aoud" ("Oh Jews, Remember Khayber, the Army of Muhammad will return")

Israeli flags and other such things were set alight under the glow of Big Ben making a very picturesque sight. The poor PSC members must have never thought that their candles would be used in such a manner.

To top it all off there was an amazing spontaneous sit down on the road which completely blocked all traffic. No less than 8 police vans and 3 squad cars full of officers arrived to clean up the scene. Unfortunately, some brothers got a bit scared and began doing the cops job for them pushing everyone back and making a human barrier to stop people getting on the road. Some broke through and were dragged off by the cops. But the vast majority of people there were more than willing to be arrested for their beliefs but alas it was not to be.

It did give me hope that people will challenge these glorification laws now to show how ridiculous they are. As for PSC, they just dont know what hit them.

Roll on Saturday.