ADSL has slowed to a crawl for the last day or so which discourages posting, but I have an irresistible urge to share the experiences of tonight’s vigil with you all.
Normally, the Gush Shalom vigil, up at a busy crossroads in Haifa passes very quietly. We all stand around with banners and placards and the opposition does the same.

This evening was different though. The opposition were frisky for some reason, It started with a silly game of wherever our supporters stood, they came and stood in front. This passed after a few words. Then, one of them tried to cut our banners down. Shouting started.
Finally, one produced a megaphone and amplifier and started shouting slogans. This goes against the sort of armistice we have on these occasions and Jo-Jo, our organiser went to reason with them. No response so the police were called. Just then, a BBC-2 TV crew pitched up and started interviewing people. They’d been out for the day with Mitzna seeing what goes on in Haifa. Both sides got a hearing but Mr LoudSpeaker insisted on shouting over the Gush Shalom interviewees. Finally the police turned up and he was silenced. It's supposed to be a static demo, not a march so you need a permit for a loudspeaker which he didn’t have.

Finally, as we left and went for a falafel, we were told we couldn't have one because he'd run out of the stuff to make the little crispy balls that go in them. A strange evening one way and another. Comments from passer bys were mixed as usual, some on our side and some on theirs. About even I would say.