Pro-Israel Activists Push Back in London and North Carolina

The Israelis just showed up.

It was captured on a video, not even a minute long, and recently posted to Twitter. An anti-Israel crowd in Central London—some yelling “murderers!”—are confronted by two Israeli women who step into the fray. And win.

The clip electrified pro-Israel activists, ever outnumbered and often drowned out. Within days it racked up more nearly 11,000 views, a huge hit in the tiny world of Zionist activism.

The women were Ortal Amar and Danit Greenberg, TV personalities and influencers in Israel who reportedly encountered the event in front of the Puma shop by chance on pedestrian Carnaby Street. For about an hour, they joined several pro-Israel counter-protesters holding Israeli flags and a bullhorn. Protests against Puma are routine in the United Kingdom, as the company sponsors the Israel Football Association.

In the video, Amar belts out an encomium of Israel and censure of Gaza: “Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East that has LGBT rights, human rights, children’s rights, free education!”

She continues, in a lilting Hebrew accent, “If you are a gay person in Gaza”—and here, Greenberg steps forward to shout in unison with Amar—“you will die!”

Amar continues: “If you are a woman that doesn’t dress modestly in Gaza,” and again, together they yell, “you will die!”

The effectiveness of the approach—informative, gutsy, soulful and seemingly cathartic—is tangible. With signs drooping, most protesters in the short clip appear merely to stare at the Israelis. One rolls up a banner. Others disperse. The Israelis show no signs of relenting, even when a police officer orders them to keep clear of the Puma entrance.

“They were absolutely brilliant!” said Gary Benjamin, an organizer of the counter-protest who uploaded photos of the Israelis to his Twitter account, @TattooedZionist. “The Pals packed up and went home early in the end. They really couldn’t take it anymore.”

Marina Greenberg (no relation), the Londoner who first posted the video under Twitter handle @BlueGreenberg, wrote, “They got told by Israelis who know the truth!”

More typical in the Boycott Divest Sanction scene is what happened a few days prior in front of Google offices in Durham, NC, among other cities. About 50 anti-Israel protesters amassed, some with signs that read “Israel is Apartheid.” Speaking into a megaphone, one woman said, with great feeling, that being an indigenous person drove her support for Palestinians. Another, a man of Middle Eastern descent, led the chant “Free! Free! Palestine!” as anger distorted his face.

With signs provided by the grassroots activism organization End Jew Hatred, about eight Israel supporters attempted to provide a counter-narrative. I was one of them.

Alexandra Ahdoot, the courageous co-president of the Students Supporting Israel club at nearby Duke University, approached a boycott proponent holding a sign that said “apartheid.” “Excuse me, sir,” said Ahdoot, “there is no apartheid. We have Arabs in the Knesset, on the supreme court, in hospitals, everywhere.”

He snickered. “It’s apartheid. You keep people apart. That’s apartheid.”

Rallies with two opposing camps can get tense. Cheryl Dorchinsky, founder and executive director of Atlanta Israel Coalition, has participated in dozens of pro-Israel events over the years. BDS advocates have at times become physically threatening, she said, giving many Israel supporters pause about participating. “Because of that hate, that’s just a reality,” Dorchinsky said. “You come face to face with it.”

For their part, most Google employees tried to skirt the hullabaloo. A few pro-Israel signs were legible among the many BDS signs in some photos run by the local press, and South African Emma Blass was interviewed about why Israel was not “apartheid.” From that standpoint, we called it a win.

But the Israelis demonstrated a winning that seemed altogether different. At one point, an anti-Israel demonstrator sidles up to the women. Greenberg points and shouts, “Go away! Go away! Go away! The only democracy [sic] country! The only one! Shame on you! Shame on you for telling lies!”

He does go away, a thin, forced smile on his lips.

“What they are doing is absolutely beautiful,” Dorchinsky said, after I sent her the video. “They know better than anyone. Israel’s their home.”

Kathryn Wolf is a journalist in Durham, North Carolina, where she lives with her husband and two daughters.