The Islamic Republic of Harvard Square

Ho hum, yet another Israel-hating Harvard Square demonstration. But, compared with the outright anti-Semitic horrors going on in Berkeley, Florida and other places, this one was rather tame. Central casting supplied the usual suspects: Graying Unitarians and Quakers, who've been in the closet for 30 years finally with the opportunity to parade their Jew hatred, the odd Arab student with a bullhorn and red kheffiyeh (gotta be red, the color of revenge) and, of course, the legions of putative Jews sporting signs that invariably begin with "Another Jew who (fill in the rest yourself): Opposes the Occupation, Deplores Israeli Atrocities..." but of course, WE know what they really mean:

"I'm another (born by accident) Jew, who really wants to be a COW (Citizen of the World) and who has nothing to do with other Jews (I spend all my time in UU churches or at the American Friends Service Committee). The only time I identify myself as a Jew occurs when the opportunity arises to criticize Israel. And, of course I am rewarded handsomely with new friends and tasty middle eastern cuisine from the Arab and leftist camps. Arabs especially treasure the vitriol with which I demonize my "fellow Jews." The Soviet Union may have sunk beneath the waves, but I have a new messiah now -- radical Islam -- to replace my need for power and belonging."

Take Eva Moseley, a "Holocaust survivor" (she and all her well-heeled family escaped Vienna in 1939) where, according to her, she never identified herself as Jewish, but now parades her dubious heritage around whenever it's convenient to bash Israel. Aside from celebrating her granddaughter's conversion to Islam (I kid you not), she got caught emailing a comrade boasting of her use of "Holocaust shtick" during anti-Israel protests. We're glad she escaped the Nazi hordes, but we're left to wonder how stricken she would be were the Hamas extermination agenda to take its course.

In spite of the hate-Israel crowd's view of places like Harvard Square as their own private fiefdom, there were plenty of pro-Israel demonstrators with signs depicting -- the unmentionable -- Hamas (none of the anti-Israel protestors ever mention Hamas; they'd rather parade around with staged photos of 6 year old Arabs holding their teddy bears in front of monstrous Jewish tanks). You see, they say, all Palestinians are innocent, Hamas doesn't exist -- except when they grudgingly admit that it won a democratic election (you can snigger now), and 1300 civilians were killed in the recent Gaza action (continue sniggering). And their proof of Jewish perfidy? Just look at the disproportionate numbers of dead! You see, they give Hamas points for inaccuracy! Using their logic, the U.S. should have lost the Battle of the Bulge, Okinawa and Iwo Jima (disproportionately more Germans and Japanese died in those crucial battles).

As for the Big Lie of Apartheid, there was plenty of literature documenting religious, ethnic, and gender apartheid in every Arab and Muslim country -- to the chagrin of the hate Israel crowd. Of course, when presented with the incontrovertible evidence of murdered gays in Iran, butchered Copts in Egypt and the ethnic cleansing of Jews from every Arab country, that crowd pulls the Groucho line:

"Are you going to believe me -- or your lying eyes?"

Glancing down the line of haters, I was reminded of the bar scene from Total Recall: A community of angry mutants confined in a dead end place with dead end ideas.

Well, that was uninteresting experience. There were a lot of people taking pictures...

A number of people, mostly young, stopped to talk to us and were very supportive. One woman said she was from South Africa and that she knows what apartheid is and these people maligning Israel are crazy. There were a couple kids wide eyed from UConn visiting Harvard for a conference who just could not believe what they were seeing and asked us if that's a common occurrence at Harvard Square. Tons of people took our fliers in front of Jewish Voice for Peacers, which drove the anti-Israel protesters nuts. They called the police on us, too...

...I would think it was confusing to passer-bye whos signs were for what, but it really pissed off the JVPers since we had such good signs. There was one older Russian guy passing by who started arguing with me before he realized we were on the same side. They had a megaphone (unfortunately our side still does not), but they seemed to use it half-heartedly...

Just as important as numbers was the joy and confidence we displayed taking our message to the streets. Many old and new friends showed the kind of high spirits that comes from fighting for the right. The opposition (mostly the usual suspects), in contrast, seemed genuinely disturbed that someone dared to muscle in on "their" territory (Harvard Square) to challenge their exclusive use (mis-use, actually) of "apartheid" terminology.

If you'll forgive me being catty for a moment, the older members of the "Israel is Wrong About Everything" club are not aging particularly well. And newer recruits (mostly students) seemed like deers in headlights when confronted with simple facts. (My favorite moment came when a kid who didn't know what the term "refusenik" meant nevertheless insisted that Israel encouraged the Soviet Union to expel its Jews! - what a yutz.) Perhaps this is why they tried so many times to get the cops to chase us away (unsuccessfully)...

For those who haven't heard, the first week in March has been designated as Israel Apartheid Week by activists who are either ill intentioned or misinformed. On American campuses, organizing committees are planning happenings to once again castigate Israel as the lone responsible party for all that maligns the Middle East.

Last year, at UC Berkeley, I had the opportunity to "dialogue" with some of the organizers of these events. My perspective is unique, both as the vice consul for Israel in San Francisco, and as a Bedouin and the highest-ranking Muslim representing the Israel in the United States. I was born into a Bedouin tribe in Northern Israel, one of 11 children, and began life as shepherd living in our family tent. I went on to serve in the Israeli border police, and later earned a master's degree in political science from Tel Aviv University before joining the Israel Foreign Ministry.

I am a proud Israeli - along with many other non-Jewish Israelis such as Druze, Bahai, Bedouin, Christians and Muslims, who live in one of the most culturally diversified societies and the only true democracy in the Middle East. Like America, Israeli society is far from perfect, but let us deals honestly. By any yardstick you choose - educational opportunity, economic development, women and gay's rights, freedom of speech and assembly, legislative representation - Israel's minorities fare far better than any other country in the Middle East...