Demonstrating

There is a lot of feeling for Palestine, I can feel it growing and hope it fruits into grace guilded action and realisation. Here's to Palestinian Unity, Dignity and Territorial Integrity. May they have better friends, brothers and comrades also.



Last week London hosted its largest Palestine specific demo (70K+) in the wake of the latest animalistic behaviour from the most dangerous beast in the Middle East. This coming Saturday there will be another one, this time from Speaker's Corner(noon) to their embassy. Check the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign for details about protests throughout the land, boycotting particulars et al.

It would be nice if these demos reversed one day. For example, folks might meet in a central location en mass, gee eachother up and spread out 360 degrees to sweep through london with the widest expression. Especially when we are on the lowering consumption (climate change/greed mitigation) flex. Its the people to people interfaces that are important. But the demonstration effect is equally significant, and I believe worth investing time and effort in.

The homogenised and corporate media will cover events as they choose. I will not adapt my behaviour to provide added value to this 'intermediary creator of opinion', no matter how they can manipulate the people supporting Palestine. I will not cake my sentiment in sterilised PR speak to ingratiate my message with some imagined white middle-class sandwich-eating demographic.

Bengal Tiger, not fox. Indian Elephant, not horse. Monsoonal downpour, not drizzle. Lunghi, not kilt. Water, not paper. Post colonial rock, not rap.

So 'No' to the 'Sunnah of the Jews' Methodology, as the more secular and materially valued brown folk so 'succinctly' put it. 'Sunnah of the Jews' is a vernacular way that unimaginative aspirants in immigrant communities conceive 'community successes'.

I for one care less for them! It is more dignified to live up to one's own better nature, rather than anothers. Thankyou Ustad Fanon.

What the corporate gossip engine cannot do is drown out people's direct experiences. People with their eyeball on the media forget this sometimes. These personally authored and trusted narratives chime throughout the land and subvert press engineering. We have seen this over the past 7 to 8 years.

Some complain about other people's bad manners on protests. They overplay it and use righteaous indignation to abdicate responsibility. This is the wrong attitude. The demonstration scenario is full of learning. It is Noahs Ark! When young rough people are surrounded by people older and younger than them, there is a behavioural negotiation. People instinctively learn how to behave in such a cosmopolitan whirlwind. When they don't learn instinctively, they can also be guided by responsible people who recognise signs and give a hoot. Moaners tend not to give that much of a hoot. I think they are more fearful of 'guilt by spatial association' and eurocentric post-holocaust accusations.

Maybe they have a point, but it is when gangs go off on their own and mix politics with their latent gangsterism that trouble occurs. I hear that gangs in Harlesdon are increasingly interpreting OBL in scary ways these days. Not something you'll hear too frequently, these guys aren't natural attendees of deradicalisation programmes, just affected by another layer of effed upedness. Come on Boris, stick that on your Crime Map (sponsored by Foxton's).

Take the increase in nastiness experienced by North London Jewry over the past couple of days as a (less dramatic) example of the political chav. Its hardly a witch hunt, but a shame. Jews march as an integral part of the movement, some walking all the way to central london in obeyance with their sacred traditions. Jewish columnists have written such heart rending introspectives on animalistic Israeli behaviour. Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis for goodness sake (may they repopulate the earth). So wtf?

The problem with the foolish 'activist'/political chav (of which i hope i am not one) is that they are a liability to their cause. Intimidating Post-Holocaust Zionised Jews who are our neighbours and who call the UK their home is wrong on so many levels. Talk about reinforcing paranoia with an Asiatic dimension.

Yet, when the rage and hurt is too large to know what to do with, one generally observes this level of retarded behaviour. The rest of the world is lucky that we are Muslim and observe it in the way that we do. With tonnes of sabr and hardly any clue. Any other group undergoing similar throat strangling would have gone totally ape by now.

oh dear, somebody might interpret that as a threat rather than an observation...

I read a comment from a characteristically hopeless Met policeman that such spikes are 'inevitable'. I think they can be decreased through practical social technique and guidance within political gatherings and tutelages. Of course the British legal system will make harsh examples of anyone in this climate. A few years ago a foolish youth was jailed for wearing a bomber jacket to a demo.

I worry about being a liability to my cause, or transforming myself into a palatable untrue object.

Then I remember Ismail Patel's line, that points directly at the regional neighbourhood and those most locally responsible, 'You belly dancing arab leaders!'