Pick a Side, Any Side: Israel, Palestine-Flag Wavers Gear Up For Rallies, Positive Reinforcement

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One or the other

​San Francisco's City Hall is rarely a serene place. It's even less so when partisans of the Middle East's sectarian violence shout, sloganeer and wave their respective flags at each other before they head inside and shout, sloganeer (but hopefully leave their flags in the hallway) as the Board of Supervisors considers a nonbinding resolution tsk-tsking Israel for its role in the deadly May 31 raid on the Gaza flotilla.



Anyone seeking a shouting match during their lunch break should look no further than the Polk Street steps of City Hall at noon, when representatives from both sides of the brouhaha are scheduled to rally, according to e-mail alerts sent out Monday.

The keffiyah set is "local anti-Israel group" Bay Area Coalition to Stop the Israeli Apartheid, subscribers to the SF Voice For Israel listserv were told Monday. "Just as with all the other anti-Israel groups locally," the e-mail alert reads, "they are not a group that supports peace between the Jewish state of Israel and its Arab neighbors." They also might have a lazy or otherwise distracted Webmaster, as there was no mention of this action on their Web site.

Either way, SF Voice for Israel is asking its supporters to show up to counter-protest. Look for (well of course duh but it's what the e-mail alert says) the Israeli flags.

Should you wish to skip the shouting and go right onto the shouting inside the Board of Supervisors chamber, that meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. Depending on how many public commenters show up, the supervisors could consider the Gaza flotilla resolution before, oh, say, 10 p.m.

The Snitch picks no sides in the Middle Eastern imbroglio, but if we could, we would go for the Crusaders. Why? Chain-mail.

Later in the week, the bullhorn could be in the other hand as Israel attempts to "tell its side of the story," according to The Bay Citizen. Two top officials are scheduled to give a speech at 9 a.m. in the Fairmont Hotel's Garden Room. Sounds bourgeois.