Thanks for posting this, TNL.

Yes, the video here http://vimeo.com/16650770 does give a much more dramatic and full picture of the action.

These activists show a lot of courage here. Especially the last two protesters who continue to dare to stand and to shout their piece, even after the crowd has been riled into what appeared to be almost a violent fury. By the fifth protest, the zionists in the house are really pissed!

It appeared that the messages spoken by the first two or three protesters could probably be heard aloud, where the last couple were basically drowned out by the crowd chanting and heckling. Nonetheless breaking the action up into 5 steps allowed for the disruption of much of Netan-yahoo's sppech. And keeping to a similar syntax and diction in the protest message(s) made for the best chance of "getting through" at least to those in the crowd who are interested in listening at all.

Also on the topic of Delegitimizing Israel, I thought this press release from my neck of the woods might be of interest. It comes from Massachusetts Residents for International Human Rights, which has had some success in getting questions of the ballot, here and in the surrounding communities, that basically ask people to vote "no" on zionism, in one form or another. Their main work is to educate the general public about the specific forms of discrimination and apartheid that characterize the "jewish state." Their ballot questions won last week. Check it out.

*********************************
Press Release

Voters Choose Equality: 57 % vote for ending Israeli government discrimination against Palestinians
Vote echoes 2008 vote in Somerville and Cambridge

Voters in the 34th Middlesex district of South Medford – West Somerville, the 23rd Middlesex district of Arlington, the 15th Suffolk district of Boston (Jamaica Plain), and the 29th Middlesex of Watertown voted “Yes” on a Question that asked: "Shall the state representative from this district be instructed to vote in favor of a non-binding resolution calling on the federal government to support the right of all people, including non-Jewish Palestinian citizens of Israel, to live free from laws that give more rights to people of one religion than another?"

The winning percentages were 55%, 54%, 66%, 61% respectively. In total 30,778 people voted Yes (57%) and 22,813 voted No.

Voters in one district, the 2nd Suffolk district of Charlestown – Chelsea voted 48 % in favor but came up just short in passing the ballot question.

The victories in 4 of 5 districts came even though only 1 municipal elected supported the ballot question. Nearly 5 dozen elected officials were contacted and all, except one, did not support the ballot question.

In 2008, 73% of voters in the 25th Middlesex district (Central Cambridge) and 62% of Somerville voters in 27th Middlesex District (Central Somerville) voted Yes on the same question. The ballot question has carried in 7 of 8 cities in the last two years.

John Spritzler, a Brighton resident of the Massachusetts Residents for International Human Rights (MRIHR) says “We’re ecstatic. Voters showed that they support the principle of equality and don’t support Isreali laws that discriminate. When given a chance to choose between the principle of equality versus the Zionist principle of inequality (i.e. that Israel must be a Jewish state in which the sovereign authority is "the Jewish people" and not all citizens equally) then Americans chose equality, even when few if any politicians will support openly equality.

Kathy Felgran, a Watertown resident of MRIHR, stated “the road to lasting peace is equality for all, and the recognition of the oneness of all humanity. It’s heartening that the majority of residents agreed”.

Spritzler believes that MRIHR can help Americans throughout the nation understand this: the principles of equality and democracy that they overwhelmingly support, are the opposite of the principles of inequality and top-down control that our politicians and mass media defend, by telling us lies about Israel and about Palestinians.

Massachusetts Residents for International Human Rights
Mrihr-owner@yahoogroups.com
P.O. Box 441259
Somerville, MA 02144
Phone: 617 230-2835

MRIHR opposes all attacks by anyone, anywhere, and at any time where unarmed civilian casualties are clearly likely, whether the attacks are aggressive or retaliatory. At the same time we support self-defense actions and armed resistance against individuals who use physical violence to oppress people.

Netanyahu is referring to continuing settlement construction. He and others have argued that all such construction is occurring in settlements that "everybody knows" will be part of Israel in any two-state solution and therefore shouldn't be viewed as an obstacle to negotiations.

Like East Jerusalem?

Just to be fair, regardless of remaining silent about the Gaza fundamentalist Hamas being more supported by radical left with each side's due respect and, while saluting the hearty human Jewish sisters and brothers who stood right in this fascinating event and while, i am more thinking about the courageous American who i think tractor went over her and her parents have not received an epsilon from the bloody Zionists, still i strongly am almost hopeless about the current - both wings - Gaza and West Bank - general positions that, through getting corrupted by the Zion and imperialists and, we ought to condemn another side of the matter too. We no more hear stands anywhere near DFLP and PFLP but, look what they have done now. arresting a barber for having non religious standpoint of view ... Please post it somewhere and discuss this atheist fellows destiny and long live United Peoples Republics of Palestine & Israel;

Palestinian held for Facebook criticism of Islam

Network News
By DIAA HADID
The Associated Press
Thursday, November 11, 2010; 7:03 PM

QALQILIYA, West Bank -- A mysterious blogger who set off an uproar in the Arab world by claiming he was God and hurling insults at the Prophet Muhammad is now behind bars - caught in a sting that used Facebook to track him down.

The case of the unlikely apostate, a shy barber from this backwater West Bank town, is highlighting the limits of tolerance in the Western-backed Palestinian Authority - and illustrating a new trend by authorities in the Arab world to mine social media for evidence.

Residents of Qalqiliya say they had no idea that Walid Husayin - the 26-year-old son of a Muslim scholar - was leading a double life.

Known as a quiet man who prayed with his family each Friday and spent his evenings working in his father's barbershop, Husayin was secretly posting anti-religion rants on the Internet during his free time.
ad_icon

Now, he faces a potential life prison sentence on heresy charges for "insulting the divine essence." Many in this conservative Muslim town say he should be killed for renouncing Islam, and even family members say he should remain behind bars for life.

"He should be burned to death," said Abdul-Latif Dahoud, a 35-year-old Qalqiliya resident. The execution should take place in public "to be an example to others," he added.

Over several years, Husayin is suspected of posting arguments in favor of atheism on English and Arabic blogs, where he described the God of Islam as having the attributes of a "primitive Bedouin." He called Islam a "blind faith that grows and takes over people's minds where there is irrationality and ignorance."

If that wasn't enough, he is also suspected of creating three Facebook groups in which he sarcastically declared himself God and ordered his followers, among other things, to smoke marijuana in verses that spoof the Muslim holy book, the Quran. At its peak, Husayin's Arabic-language blog had more than 70,000 visitors, overwhelmingly from Arab countries.

His Facebook groups elicited hundreds of angry comments, detailed death threats and the formation of more than a dozen Facebook groups against him, including once called "Fight the blasphemer who said 'I am God.'"

The outburst of anger reflects the feeling in the Muslim world that their faith is under mounting attack by the West. This sensitivity has periodically turned violent, such as the street protests that erupted in 2005 after cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad were published in Denmark or after Pope Benedict XVI suggested the Prophet Muhammad was evil the following year. The pope later retracted his comment.

Husayin is the first to be arrested in the West Bank for his religious views, said Tayseer Tamimi, the former chief Islamic judge in the area.

The Western-backed Palestinian Authority is among the more religiously liberal Arab governments in the region. It is dominated by secular elites and has frequently cracked down on hardline Muslims and activists connected to its conservative Islamic rival, Hamas.

Oh, gee. Apparently some Berkeley pro Israel activists got even. JVP had a meeting yesterday to celebrate the hecklers and it got crashed by a pro-Israel crowd who completely disrupted it. Riot police were eventually called