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I admit it: The only reason I attended the April 20 pro-Palestinian rally
in Washington, D.C., was to cause trouble. Put 50,000
fundamentalist Muslims, angry Arab-Americans, '60s-liberal leftovers and
tie-dyed, 20-something neo-hippies in the same place, and the comedy
potential is too great to pass up.
So on Saturday morning, I parked my car a safe distance away and strolled
toward the Washington Monument. The first thing I noticed was that I had
been the victim of false advertising. This was not a 'pro-Palestine'
rally. It was a 'Down with Israel and George Bush' rally.
While the throng was thick with banners, very few of them mentioned the
Palestine Authority and none - not one that I saw - mentioned the
Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat. Instead, most of the messages were
condemnations of Israel and Ariel Sharon. One popular motif was mixing the
Swastika and the Star of David, a gruesome image for anyone but the most
ardent Holocaust denier. And just to make sure the point wasn't missed,
the crowd repeatedly chanted, 'Sharon and Hitler are the same, the only
difference is their name.'
There was no doubt as to what the crowd was against: the 'racist' nation
of Israel and the evil government of America and its terrorist leader,
George W. Bush. But what were these people for? Did they really support
the creation of a new Arab Muslim nation led by Arafat?
To find out, I waded into the crowd with my minidisk recorder and started
asking questions.
To Amanda from Atlanta in the 'Free Speech, Free Media' T-shirt, I posed
the question: 'Which nongovernment-controlled Arab newspaper is your
favorite?' When she couldn't answer, I pointed out that there aren't any
nongovernment-controlled newspapers in the Arab Muslim world.
'Are you comfortable supporting the cause of a group of people who don't
believe in either free speech or a free press?'
'I, uh, really, uh, that's a good question,' was the best she could do.
Then I asked the gay-rights advocate with the 'From Stonewall To
Palestine: People Fight Back' sign: 'Doesn't it bother you that
virtually all Arab Muslim governments outlaw homosexuality? That most of
the people in this crowd think you should be stoned to death?'
'I hadn't really thought about it,' he replied.
And of every woman I met protesting on behalf of a new, Arafat-led nation,
I asked: 'Do you really want to see yet another Arab Muslim nation where
women have few if any political rights (Kuwait), are lashed for committing
adultery (United Arab Emirates) or are the victims of female genital
mutilation (Saudi Arabia)?'
Vanessa, a liberal feminist from Michigan, answered this way: 'That's
their thing, and I disbelieve [sic] in that, but it's not just there.
Women everywhere are captized [sic].' She went on to tell me that all
Americans are 'captized' too, but she wasn't exactly sure by whom.
When I asked Amina and Amira, two female Arab students from George
Washington University, they had a novel response: They refused to
acknowledge that any Arab Muslim nations restrict women's rights. I
pointed out the obvious case of Saudi Arabia - where women cannot leave
their homes without permission and can be beaten for showing too much skin
in public. They all but laughed at me: 'Saudi Arabia does not have a
Muslim government,' Amira told me.
So the Saudis are, what - Lutherans?
As I worked the crowd, I was tailed by a group of Arab gentlemen who
listened in on several conversations before finally confronting me: 'Why
are you asking these questions?'
I told them I wanted to know if the people waving their 'free speech/free
press/free love/free Mumia' signs understood that they
were at a rally supporting yet another oppressive, theocratic, dictatorial
regime.
'That's none of our business,' said Khalid, a Moroccan living in
Massachusetts. 'All I want is for the Palestinians to be free. This
is all about freedom.' Before I could crack, 'Then they should move to
Israel, the only place in the Mideast where Palestinians can
vote,' he interrupted again.
'You know what, America's government isn't the best government in the
world. Do you like everything your government does?'
'Of course I don't always like my government,' I told him. 'But unlike
Arafat, when I say so, my American government doesn't throw me in jail or
kill me. And my government-approved Imam doesn't write editorials for
government-run newspapers urging Muslims to kill Jews.'
'That's not killing Jewish people,' Khalid said. 'It's liberating
Palestinians.'
'So, that's what you call it!' I replied.
The conversation was over. I moved on to another strategy. I put down my
recorder and picked up a large, hand-made sign. It read: 'HEROES FOR
PEACE: Gandhi, MLK, Arafat.'
It was, I thought, the perfect sign. It was parodying the Palestinian
position, but without the obviousness of, say, 'Suicide Bombers for
Peace,' a sign that might have earned me a bloody nose.
I took my insult to Dr. King and the nonviolence movement, and I marched
into the heart of the crowd. I waved it, I shook it, I
covered the rally from front to back. I pointed it at black ministers in
the crowd and watched them read it. I stood next to 'Down with
Israel' signs and held it high. And I waited.
When would someone challenge this obnoxious argument? After half an hour,
someone finally spoke up. A plump, middle-aged liberal with her 'Visualize
World Peace' button read my sign, then looked up at me and smiled. 'God
bless you,' she said.
No, I thought as I walked dejectedly back to my car, God help us.
We're gonna need it.
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