It is 3pm on June 18th 2017. I am in disguise, wearing a keffiyeh that is necessary to cover my face. I want to infiltrate the Al Quds Day march and the only way I can participate is to remain unrecognised. I stand next to the terrorist flag of Hezbollah. The stewards are on the lookout for people like me, and although I am quickly questioned, their suspicions do not allow them to remove the keffiyeh. They could not know who was behind the mask. I stare them down. I remain unidentified and I am in.
Fifteen days ago, just three miles from where I stand, eight people were killed and 48 were injured in a radical Islamic terror attack. In Manchester just a few weeks before, an Islamic terrorist attacked an Ariana Grande concert, deliberately targeting British children. Twenty-two people died in that attack. A few weeks before this, five were killed when an Islamic terrorist attacked people in Westminster. That attack was less than two miles from where I stand. Today, I will walk down Oxford Street with hundreds of people, all marching in support of a radical Islamic terror group. Proudly waving the flag of the Hezbollah. Welcome to the Twilight Zone.
Al Quds day is an Islamic invention, that was introduced into the calendar by the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979 in ‘opposition to the existence of Israel’. The London branch of the Islamic hate festival is organised by the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC). Every year flags in support of Hezbollah are flown. This year the IHRC have even encouraged people to bring them.
Majid Nawaaz recently described Hezbollah as:
“an anti-Semitic, sectarian shia-jihadist terror organisation that advocates the annihilation of Jews worldwide, and has militarily backed Assad’s atrocities in Syria for geo-sectarian reasons at the behest of their state sponsor Iran.”
The terrorist march
The meeting point was Duchess St in London. I was at the event last year, and this year the numbers were clearly down. Maybe 250 people this time, including several young children kitted out in Hezbollah colours. The organisers were visibly disappointed as they continually advised the marchers to ‘spread out’. They were constantly urging more of a response to their call for chants. They knew the attendance looked and sounded weak.
Nazim Ali on the megaphone spewed out hate. Here the organisers did not disappoint; a rancid, antisemitic tirade that suggested the ‘Zionists’ (read Jews) are the root of all evil. All manner of antisemitic conspiracy was shouted out through the speakers. The BBC are silenced through the power of Zionists, the Board of Deputies have blood on their hands, Israel is ISIS. The crowd is told Zionism to its core is a ‘fascist, evil ideology’. By a country mile the most despicable attack was linking the ‘Zionists’ (read Jews) to the recent tragedy in Grenfell. An entire tower block reduced to ashes, and clearly the fault of the Jews. The police did nothing. When asked about some of the hate being spewed: ‘It’s an opinion’ one said.
The constant use of the ‘good Jew’, ‘bad Jew’ formula, somehow permits these antisemites to spew sectarian anti-Jewish hatred on the streets of the UK’s capital. A handful of Neturei Karta stand at the front of the march. A strange cult on the very fringe of Jewish society allowing mainstream Jewry to be attacked without comment. Some of the comments are caught in this video:
I had known it was coming, but suddenly there was agitation at the front. The march came to a stop. It was time for me to make my way outside.
‘Thou shall not pass’
I quickly left those waving the terrorist flag to join the group of protestors who had brought the march to a halt. About 40 pro-Israeli activists, had taken up position in front of the demonstration. 40 activists, waving the Israeli flag, shouting “get the terrorists off our streets”. They were not moving and the entire procession came to a stop. Richard Millett, one of these protestors, took this video, shortly after they took their initial positions:
The failure of law
The police were clearly unsure what to do, as the pro-Israelis pointed to the Hezbollah flag, asking for the flag to be removed. Carefully reciting from a script sheet, over and over again the police stated that the flag represents the ‘political arm’ of Hezbollah. It is what the rule book says. This is toothless western bureaucracy, and highlights just how lost the west is in response to radical Islamic terrorism. It sends a message that it is okay to hate Jews, it is okay to incite against them, it is okay to ask for them to be ‘wiped off the map’. It is also okay to create a specific military wing to violently carry out your wishes. As long as you do not join that military wing, you can be treated as a legitimate actor. This the logic behind the argument.
Islam is a political religion, there is no separation as we understand it. If we in the UK would object to the waving of an ISIS flag because it is symbolic of the slaughter of innocents, so too we should oppose Hezbollah.
Yet the pro-Israelis succeeded where the politicians had refused to tread. As the police eventually began to slowly move them on, they changed the face of the entire demonstration. Walking at the front were 40 Israeli flags, pointing back to the Islamic march, shouting that terrorists should not be allowed on our streets. As they were at the front, it was the first thing that everyone saw, and a forceful image that shaped the way the demonstration was being viewed. Strategically it was very successful. These activists stood in the sweltering heat, peacefully faced down the terrorist crowd, with resolve, with courage and they blunted the antisemitic message of hate. Kudos.
The final destination
Because the pro-Israeli activists kept slowing down or stopping the demonstration, it took far longer to reach the US Embassy than expected, but eventually we reached the main group of pro-Israeli activists, the official counter demonstration.
And so the two groups finally faced each other. Speaking on the one side, Kay Wilson, a survivor of a brutal terror attack in Jerusalem, and speaking on the other, those that wave the flag of Hezbollah. Scottish PSC were represented, driven by a hate that blinds them to the colours of the Hezbollah flag. So too Naomi Winborne Idrissi. There is no excuse for a self stated ‘humanitarian’ of any shade to be walking with such toxic antisemitic elements. Rarely have Idrissi’s internal failings been so clearly exposed. On the 18th June 2017, she stood with the flag of Hezbollah. Under the banner of radical Islamic terrorism.
But the real failing here is that the march was allowed to take place at all. It is a disgraceful message to send that we are so impotent in the fight against terrorism, that terrorists can wave their flags freely in London.
The 18th June was Fathers day in the UK. Seeing the Hezbollah flag waved in London was a direct insult to all the absent fathers that were ripped from their families through Islamic terrorism. How sickening, that on a day that would know mourning in hundreds of households in the UK, Hezbollah should be honoured in the UK capital. The politicians had left it so the victims of terror were not remembered on the streets of London, their killers were. How fortunate that some people took to the streets to remind everyone of the truth.
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Amazing stuff. I guess Israel is saved right ? Anyway David I would suggest that next time you and Richard make a better effort to synchronise your stories o:)
why on earth would we synchronise stories?
David in all seriousness this made me smile and I don’t mean in a condescending way. It was a pretty good wheeze. I genuinely impressed. The kind of thing I could imagine my daughter organising. It will of course only work once.
Unbelievable, what a stupid comment to a well written report on a well organized counter demo by the pro Israel group.
David, I imagine that you’ve now realised that if in some parallel universe you had been an undercover reporter at Belsen writing first hand accounts of babies being dismembered live by Nazis and their remains macerated to make jam Mr. Bellamy would accuse you of bias to Jews and of deliberate distortion of your reporting as a result….and in any event the babies probably had it coming.
Still, at 2 or 3 quid a post from his paymasters I suppose that he has little or no motivation to up his game.
Ian – stop writing such rubbish!
Oh come on, you are your mate started.
interesting to see how many police had to waste their time yesterday policing two futile events
especially in the light of all the comments on the TV this morning, about how overworked the police are…
and how difficult it has been for them since the London Bridge attack, and then the Grenfell fire and now the Finsbury park mosque
poor things could certainly have done without having to stand around on a hot summer afternoon as well
Disgraceful that a March of that nature is allowed to happen at all is just a piss take after all that’s been going on in Manchester and London. I’m sick of this country and what it’s become.id. it’s being taken over and no one has stopped it .the government sit there doing sod all about it while chanting they will not win.from where I’m standing they already have.when these terrorists acts happen again it’s the good will of the community that helps in every way. That in itself is a brilliant display.however where are the government who spend annoying amounts of money helping immigrants into this country.yet don’t help their own.I’m ashamed to be British. And I’m far from proud of the way Britain has bowed down and let these idiots do what they want.no wonder the country is in this message. Shocking.
Dover is that way Susan >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
I was at the Grosvenor Sq end of the event. When things started running late, I knew it could not have been the fault of TFL. Then the phone-call came through and i punched the air. Well done to the break-away Zionists who had the guts to disrupt the harmony and flow of Al-Quds day.
I too was surprised that the Al Quds numbers were so low. However, this is a good sign, When they marched towards the Zionist cordon, I was on the other side of the rod actually in the square. I walked in to their ranks and what a heavy atmosphere compared to the Zionist’s cordon. They all looked so fed-up. I took some photos of the NKs and told them in Yiddish what I thought of them. Remarkably, they remained un-intimidated by my insults (‘scheigetz and mumsahs). My guess is that their Rebbe has guided them on the possibility if intimidation.
As I left the Al-Quds crowd, one guy recognised me and told me to fuck-off. I told him to fuck-off too…plus another expletive. I will not be told where I can go or what I can say in a free country. While exiting the crowd, I was followed. I turned around and some big guy asked me what I was doing. I replied: ‘going that way’ As a police officer was standing right next to me, his threatening behaviour ended there…..like I was bothered.
May I thank the Zionist Federation, the Board of Deputies, the CST and everyone else, including the author of this site David, for your commitment and courage in what was a challenging day.
G-d bless you all.
If anyone would like to see the three close-ups of the NK and the sign they were holding up, please email me.
You are a bit of cinderella Mike aren’t you ?
I mean you always plan to be at the ball but never quite make it. Always have a good reason though. On the other hand Cinderella eventually did.
Targets nearly met eh Stephen? Just a pithy one liner over at #ziostorchedGrenfell and a summary put down of some old dear at One-Mans-Terrorist.org and you can put your feet up for the week. Nice work if you can get it.
Well it is a bit hot to be running around all over the place Ian.
As Stephen said, this escapade was rather funny. Inspector Clouseau rides again! Yes of course it’s a gravely serious matter but going in disguise…? Infiltrating…? Seriously?! You’ll have people (from both sides) playing ‘spot-the-Collier’ at future events, if they don’t already. The other funny thing – or not so funny – is that the majority of Brits had probably never heard of al Quds Day before the pro-Israel movement started shouting about it.
They seek him here………they seek him there
Not really. It isn’t that I haven’t been outed before. My disguise isn’t really to get me in, it is to allow me to roam freely and report without hindrance once inside. In other words it is there to keep me safe. There isn’t much anyone can do is there? What is it about me that would permit exclusion? I cause no trouble, I never interfere, interrupt and rarely comment at all. I carry a press card. I am a journalist and they do not like what I write. So yes, they look for me, and yes they warn others I might be there, but the law protects me not them. And the day the law starts to protect them from journalists, is the day I’ll want to leave.
As for the second bit. The majority of Brits still haven’t heard of it. They hadn’t heard of the hate preachers either before people began to tell others of the hate being spewed inside some mosques. And then of course the attacks started. So it isn’t about whether or not most people are aware of it. It is about getting radical Islamic hate on our streets.
Your comment the law protecting journalists is a bit rich. Perhaps you could repeat them to the IDF…they seem not to have heard your suggestion.
A classic example of deflective whataboutery. Yawn.
Was supporting Israel there last year Oh!how I wish I was there this year but I live in Spain…God bless all who took part
No David, you are not a journalist. You’re a blogger and a propagandist. This much is obvious from the vocabulary you regularly use (rabid, spewing venom, rancid rambling, hate-fest) and the persistent libelling of certain individuals (Pappe, Suarez, Falk…) Your writing is full of insinuations and assumptions about other people’s motives. In writing as you do, you are actually inciting hatred, while accusing others of doing so. What’s more, while you accuse pro-Palestinian academics and activists of lacking balance, you don’t seem to see the need for balance in your own writings. You want to be a journalist? Go on a course to learn how to do it properly! And another thing – if you have a Press card (as you say you do) – then you must have blagged one because according to the Press Card Authority you have to be able to verify that you need one in the course of your professional work as a newsgatherer, verified by one of a number of ‘gatekeeper’ organisations, including the NUJ. I repeat: ‘professional newsgatherer’, not blogger, David, and certainly not someone who relies on donations as you do. Besides, there was absolutely no need for you to go undercover at the Al Quds march. The speeches were public, and the media had the event covered – the Jewish press extensively – before and after. Protesters against the march certainly have a point and I don’t disagree with them. But perhaps a little context would not go amiss: Hizbollah hasn’t arrived out of nowhere, any more than Palestinian violence has come out of nowhere. Hizbollah was born out of Israel’s devastating wars in Lebanon (remember the Sabra and Shatila massacre? ), including in 2006 when Israel formulated its Dahiya Doctrine (look it up people) which they later used to inflict death and destruction on Gaza. I’m not saying the UK should allow such marches in the current climate, or ever – and some of the speeches were clearly unacceptable – just that as you’ve said before, David, it’s complicated.
Oh you poor dear Jane. You have as much awareness of online news media, its content management strategy, funding routes and consumer patterns as you do of the libel laws of the UK. To be honest you come across as somebody with an axe to grind against the press. Have you recently been layed off by your sub-editor or overlooked for a decent gig on the Hair and Beauty section? If so I really don’t think that taking it out on David helps you very much, do you?
I’m sure David can take the flak, Ian. And I’m sure you’re right, I don’t know enough about today’s online media, but I do know something about journalistic writing style and professionalism. Re your personal insults: I expect they actually do make you feel better.
David actually enjoys taking the flak Jane, I just wish it was more accurate. As it stands, most of what you dish out is devoid of real substance. Your understanding of the press card system for example. You seem to assume I do not get paid for any of my writing? Where on earth did that assumption come from? I have had dozens of articles published in the last twelve months alone. The investigative journalism and so on, all unpaid? Really?
That I ask for donations to help support my underlying research doesn’t detract from me also being a ‘professional newsgatherer’. Another big report coming out shortly because of the help I receive. Did you see the one in February on the PSC – weren’t those posts disgusting. 40% of those at one demo pushed global Jewish conspiracy theory. 40%!. What has all that Jew hate got to do with the Palestinians?
As for your accusation that I am a propagandist. I reject it entirely. How the PSC responded to the judicial review was propaganda, because the PSC depend on propaganda to survive. Similarly Corbyn’s take on the election is propaganda. Classic Marxist response to a defeat. Al -Jazeera push propaganda. Press TV too. If i use the word ‘rabid’ to describe “having or proceeding from an extreme or fanatical support of or belief in something”, then I am adhering to an accurate description of what I witness. I never take information and twist it just to spin something in a positive light. Why would I bother? My support for the state of Israel has nothing to do with a claim of perfection. Israel can be as multi-warted as the UK or USA. I really do not care to fight pointless battles. I call all post 1967 discussion a rabbit hole I refuse to enter. Nothing to do with me at all.
You also seem to conflate hatred of Jews with having sympathy for Palestinians. These are not the same although clearly one hides behind the other. My role is not to attack pro-Palestinian (really pro-palestinian) outlets at all, but rather to find, report and explain about the use of Jew hatred inside anti-Israel activity. I spent years working closely with Palestinians in the WB and very little of what is happening here has anything to do with the conflict. I fail to see how my attacking those who allow their Jew hatred to further lock the Palestinians into a no win situation, is lacking balance. If anything people who truly had the Palestinian interests at heart would want to see the swiftest, most easily accessible end to the conflict. Instead, they make impossible demands that will ensure yet another generation of children are lost. Why? Because Israel existence is too much for them to bear. It goes way beyond making sure Palestinians are in control of their own destiny, in a land they can call their own.
I therefore reject the idea I incite hatred. I do nothing of the sort. All people are equal and humans are full of failings. Suggesting that the Jews of all people should have to rely on the accommodation of others for their self protection has absolutely no ethical or moral grounding in a post Holocaust world. Israel is a necessity on this planet because of how humans behave.
I have no need to look up the Dahiya doctrine, I am fully aware of the history and the way such terminology is twisted. Blumenthal for example loves doing that in his books. I read them all btw, Peled, Pappe, Said, Blumenthal, White, Suarez. You should come round and see my personal library of anti-Zionists. Pretty impressive. I am not the person to throw empty words at as if they have hidden meaning. Back on topic. How can you possible reject the notion that Jew hatred hasn’t played a major role in keeping the fighting going since 1949. I promote peace over justice. Those that promote justice over peace, know exactly what they are doing – inciting hatred.
And no, me walking amongst them freely is not a realistic goal at present. If you desire I can send you dozens of images of threats, those telling me what they will do if they catch me etc. I am surprised you appear so unaware of the ‘rabid’ hatred in the camp.
David you know that I never miss reading all of the stuff you write that I am aware of. Could you point me in the direction of these dozens of articles. Many thanks.
Oh Stephen, I would have thought you were all read up on the Jewish press. I wasn’t really grandstanding when I said dozens, although just between you and me (turn away everyone else) I’d guess the actual number is between 35 and 45. I don’t like talking about myself, I find it a deflection. For your records, I’ve been published in mags like the Tower & the Tablet, all of the Jewish press outlets in the UK, some in the States and some in Israel. Some Christian organisations have asked me to write pieces for them too. I’ve also had some ‘white label’ stuff in mainstream media. Here is one of mine that doesn’t even carry my name. The JN ran it as their front cover in the print version. http://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/caught-in-a-web-of-hate/
Where Jane is making her basic mistake is failing to differentiate between someone who just writes opinion pieces and someone who leaves the keyboard and goes out in the real world to gather news. I wrote a few sentences after this explaining this in greater detail, but got bored and deleted them. I hate talking about myself. There’s a big difference. Enough said.
I don’t believe we will be seeing Ms Jackman again after that response from David , although Bellamy , like some punch drunk boxer, just keeps coming back for more.
They may, of course be one and the same. These media response folk have to be creative to keep the post quota up. Spare a thought for the poor souls though. I hear that their paymasters, concerned about the paper trails are using less traceable payment methods now. You can imagine the scene at the local Mini-mart “I’m sorry Mr B. I’ve told you a thousand times. You can take the 20 Lamberts and the tin of cat food but we don’t take Bitcoin here.”
Ian, you’re not making any sense at all.
Harvela – don’t be so sure!
David, you say: “How can you possible reject the notion that Jew hatred hasn’t played a major role in keeping the fighting going since 1949”.
Let’s get it straight, shall we? I didn’t say anything of the kind! Of course antisemitism has been, and still is a factor in the conflict, though in my view not a major one as you suggest. Inevitably there will be antisemites amongst the campaigners for Palestinian rights, who use it to serve their own bigotry – common sense tells us that. But that fact, unpalatable as it is, doesn’t negate the justice of the struggle for those rights – and it doesn’t justify some of the scattergun (dare I say rabid?!!) accusations of antisemitism we’ve seen over the last year or so.
Nor, by the way, do I “conflate hatred of Jews with having sympathy for Palestinians”. So much for you not twisting words and arguments!
You go on to say, “I promote peace over justice. Those that promote justice over peace, know exactly what they are doing – inciting hatred”. David, there can be no peace without justice. History tells us that.
Jane. Do you not see the contradiction in your own post?
I said “How can you possible reject the notion that Jew hatred hasn’t played a major role in keeping the fighting going since 1949”
you responded-
“Let’s get it straight, shall we? I didn’t say anything of the kind!”
And then in the next sentence you go on to say exactly that.
“though in my view not a major one as you suggest.”
The problem Jane isn’t that there are antisemites in the ranks of the anti -Israel activists. I would no more expect the PSC to be completely devoid of Jew haters, than I would expect the pro-Israeli crowd to be entirely free of racists. That type of game playing isn’t my field and I leave that to the propagandists (referencing my earlier post).
The question is the level of antisemitism. The PSC report I published was pretty horrific. I have another one coming out shortly that reaffirms the finding. It is a scary notion that almost half of any demonstration believe Jews control the world, media, are behind 9/11, 7/7 and so on. Almost half! (in this context I refuse to accept the argument the term Zionist isn’t Jew it makes no sense). And that’s only those who actually post directly on their own FB pages. Forget the Nazi analogies or talk of the conflict. I never even looked at that. The problem isn’t a few, it is endemic. If I stood in a crowd and almost 50% were so far off the political scale as to be plague ridden, I would back away forever. Something is seriously wrong with the cause itself.
The idea there can be no peace without justice is empty rhetoric. And no history does not tell us that. History tells us that power generally wins, human beings are rancid creatures and justice is almost non existent anywhere on the planet. You just quotes a meaningless phrase from the anti-Israel activist handbook and suggested history supports you. It most certainly does not. Justice is relative and about perception. You cannot now be just to the Palestinians without being unjust to the Israelis. No peace without justice’ is an entirely false logic that traps everyone in perpetual conflict.
Can you point me to a single nation on the planet, where you think justice has not been denied? The entire BDS movement is a con intended to perpetuate a conflict and demotivate the sides from talking. It was born as a result of a failing intifada. It is a tool of war, not peace.
Twaddle. Harvela – you win!
Yes it is the dawning of the age of………well not Aquarius but the age when London rickshaw operators rule the earth. rickiolithic ?