They get hotter every time, and they had a pretty good turnout on Friday, Jan. 16. This protest was sponsored by the Albuquerque Mosque and backed by the local far left and the local “destroy Israel” Jewish groups. The Muslims and Company had a “press conference” at the Mosque, then marched down to Central. In front of the UNM Bookstore, Food Not Bombs was giving free food, as is their usual custom. Ten Pro-Israel people had set up an information table after lunch and stood with signs, flyers and flags at the steps and on the sidewalk. Quite a few people passed by and made a point to say they were with us. Many passing cars honked their support for Israel, seeing the pro-Israel signs and flags on the sidewalk.
The Food Not Bombs people were cordial and offered us all something to eat and drink, not because they support Israel, but because they were trying to put their ideas of peace into action this morning.
Soon Bob Anderson of the “Stop the War Now” machine appeared on the scene with an anti-Israel sign, and we knew our peaceful afternoon would not be so peaceful. Evidently the Muslim demonstration was planning to come our way.
Sure enough, after awhile they appeared, with a little bullhorn, all those peaceful adults coming out of Friday prayers, and lots of children dressed as jihadi fighters and martyrs. This is the culture of our local Muslim youth, approved and fostered by their elders.
The marching Muslims appeared non-plussed to see pro-Israel people already demonstrating peacefully on what the Muslims consider to be their streets. The whole march stopped for a moment while they considered what to do. At first some of leaders tried to make the march stop beside us, as they had access to the steps and tons of room for screaming, chanting, waving signs and flags and intimidating people. However, the majority view won out and they swarmed around the Israel people, blocking us in and trying to prevent the public from seeing our signs or flags.
When you are spouting propaganda, lies and calls to racism, you must not let other voices be heard, since there is some power in truth, if it can get out. The Muslims, especially the youth and children, knowing this, did their best to harrass, intimidate and block the small group of pro-Israel people demonstrating on the sidewalk.
However, behind us, back at the steps at our information table, others in our group did a great job of discussing the issue with people who were passing by…not yelling, not threatening, just discussing. Quite a few people signed our interest and support list, until the Muslim shouting made normal visitors scarce.
Meantime, those who had been on the street when we were over-run by the Muslims stayed on the street, unwilling to give in to the bullying. A small family group, surrounded to the point that they could not be seen, and somewhat worried for their safety, went back to the table after about half an hour, where they could do more good. The father went down the street with his sign to join a lone pro-Israel retiree whose motto seems to be “no fear”. A police car parked in front of them to guard them from harassment from the Muslim youth.
Back in the crush, I continued to wave my Israeli flag on the curb among all the Palestinian flags and took video, while Muslim men, women and children tried to block public view of the Israeli flag and keep me from taking video of them. This is a sure sign these videos are effective and hurt their “cause”. Our small protest, that they tried to end, seemed to really bug the honorable representatives of Islam in Albuquerque and their left wing compadres. Muslims and left wingers smirked and obstructed, but they weren’t able to end our protest, even though they outnumbered us 20:1 and many made a point of trying to intimidate us.
After the protest, one of the innocent Palestinian children came up to communicate to me that someone had told him to tell me that I “was being watched”. Right. The Muslims are our friends, and all we need is more interfaith statements.
Finally the Albuquerque police made the last of the over-run pro-Israel people leave the street in front of the bookstore, even though we had been there with a peaceful protest before the Mosque demonstration had even begun. This was because they were afraid of an escalation to violence on the part of the Muslims. I don’t blame the police for this, they needed to keep order, and worked to protect the pro-Israel people. However, this is a sad pattern, echoed on a far larger scale in Israel and large cities across the world, that Muslim numbers and threats to violence are sufficient to put an end to justice.
The Muslims and their left wing supporters know this well, which is why they use these tactics. The general public should see it for what it is and put a stop to it while they still can. Yes, all have free speech, including supporters of Israel, but nobody has a legal license to over run and try to intimidate others simply because they are louder, more numerous and aggressive. However, much of the Arab population in Albuquerque and their left wing allies gain a defacto license to do the illegal. They use free speech laws against the citizens they despise, the regular Americans and non-dhimmi Jews, who first created the guarantee of free speech. First it starts in small ways, like today, and like the camel’s nose in the tent, they know they will eventually have the whole tent due to public fear and apathy.
What is the answer? To put away apathy and fear, to go to the effort to learn what’s true and stand up for the truth, yourself, and others, boldly in all the many possible ways.
The media did not cover this protest, and did not air the Muslim “press conference”. I think that’s a good thing. The public is tired of the endless screaming in the streets and disruption. It is not news anymore. Look for a change in tactics now, from those who worship death and fight for oppression.
