The anti-Israel contingency swore that this would be the biggest anti-Israel rally ever. Hundreds of thousands would march and shout in Washington, and the beginning of the end of the occupation would occur.
Except, well, nobody showed.
Billed as a massive rally and the first national demonstration focusing on an end to the Israeli occupation, a pro-Palestinian protest held on the Capitol lawn Sunday afternoon drew upwards of 2,000 protesters chanting anti-Israel slogans, waving Palestinian flags and calling for the right of return for Palestinian refugees.
The sponsors, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, United for Peace and Justice and 300 supporting organizations, said they were pleased with the turnout at the rally. Critics, though, called the smaller-than-expected turnout a poor showing for a nationally planned event.
Wow. Three hundred supporting organizations, and less than 3,000 people showed. They couldn’t even average ten people per organization. And there’s no real excuse. Sunday was a beautiful, sunny day, just perfect for a rally in front of the Capitol. There were no traffic incidents to stop the flow of people into DC, either. Gee. And still, nobody showed. What a disappointment to the anti-Israel side.
How can you tell it was a crushing disappointment? By the organizers’ refusal to acknowledge the horrendous showing.
The dozens of empty port-a-potties lining one side of the rally perimeter suggested that many more protesters had been expected, but US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation organizer Phyllis Bennis said she was “absolutely” pleased with the turnout. She wouldn’t estimate the size of the crowd as she didn’t want to get into a “numbers game.”
Denial is not just a river in Egypt, you know.
“This is a historic event. This is the first time there’s been a national rally focused solely on ending US support for the Israeli occupation,” she said, standing in front of the towering Capitol building. She added that the demonstration was aimed mainly at Congress and would be followed up by a lobbying day Monday with 200 visits to members of Congress representing 30 states.
Wow. Representing 30 states, and 2,000 protestors. That’s, um, let’s see, carry the two… almost 67 voters per state! Hoo-wee, it’s a mandate!
“There’s a sea-change happening in public opinion” regarding Israel, said Bennis, explaining the timing of the rally, which also coincided with the 40th anniversary of Israel’s victory in the 1967 war. “Public opinion is changing, but it doesn’t happen overnight.”
De. Nial. Yep. That river in Egypt, she flows swiftly past (and through) the anti-Israel moonbats. From their press release on the result of the rally:
June 10-11 Mobilization a Huge Success
(Washington DC, June 11, 2007) The largest ever national demonstration against the Israeli occupation took place yesterday in Washington DC. More than 5,000 demonstrators from all over the country declared that “40 years of Israel’s occupation are enough.â€
Okay, even taking their numbers at face value, they still couldn’t even get much more than 16 people per organization to show. What a stunning showing. Very meaningful. Looks like that tiny minority of Israel-haters really is a tiny minority.
The rally took place in front of the Capitol and continued with a march to the White House – the two centers of US foreign policy. This demonstration was sponsored by the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and United for Peace and Justice, two major national coalitions. More than 300 organizations nationwide participated.
I wonder if any members of Congress even bothered to meet with them.
We are now two-for-two in failed anti-Israel protests. They didn’t show up in Britain, either.
This is very good news for the good guys. People are starting to see the inherent anti-Semitism in the anti-Israel crowd. No, all criticism of Israel isn’t anti-Semitism. But an astonishingly high amount of it is.
Actually, I saw some photos (one of them panoramic) of the event, and there didn’t seem to be anywhere near even 3,000 people. I read an estimate of about a thousand demonstrators in the crowd [sorry, I forget where I read that].
Seriously, photos of the event showed a big, yawning expanse of open lawn with a smallish crowd hovering at one end. It looked more like a garden party or a kid’s birthday party. As one commenter said, “where’s the clown, where’s the guy with the balloons”?
I think that the demonstration will probably backfire. What you see is a modest crowd and a vast emptiness behind them. The demonstration only showed very graphically its lack of support. It was almost a mockery.
The organizers should’ve been more realistic about their likely attendance. They should have better gauged beforehand who intended to come, and then they should’ve picked a public space more suitable to the size of their crowd. Even a crowd of 1,000 can look impressive in a more constrained space.
Joanne,
Such people are delusional about what is going on in Israel. Why would one expect them to not be delusional about their numbers too? Especially if they exist in a hothouse echo chamber, as they probably do.