Riot: Part I (The Parade of Women)

I did something today you are not supposed to do. At least according to the U.S. State Department. But you know, if you aren't going to listen to nuns, why would you listen to the government?

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_922.html

It was about 12:30, after Islamic services on Friday morning. So, with some free time, I headed into the heart of the Muslim Quarter. (I knew a good falafel place there, and thought I’d grab lunch.) I also knew, as everyone in this country knows, that if there are going to be problems or distrubances these days, it will happen in the Muslim Quarter or at the Damascus Gate, on Friday, right after the mosques let out after services. It wouldn't be the first time.

I ordered the scrumptious pita falafel, and just as I was finishing it, I heard chanting far away. A crowd chanting. Like a parade. After a few seconds, I could tell it was coming towards me from the south, up the main thoroughfare that is the al-Wad road.

Sticking my head out of the restaurant door (you can see the al-Shikiri doors in my early blogs), the street to the south was jammed, I mean wall to wall packed with people, mostly women with white head-covering. Chanting. Loudly. Somewhat defiantly. (It didn’t sound like it had an intonation of real friendliness.)

As they passed the restaurant, they met Israeli soldiers and police who had formed a wall. They were obviously not going to let this very large group pass.

What happened in the next ten minutes, I can only say, was the only true riot/police activity I had even witnessed firsthand. It was as if I was watching the nightly news, but I was live and in the middle of it. Soldiers with nightsticks yelled and pushed. The crowd started yelling and surged forward. I could not believe it, that sort of disbelief you have when something so out-of-the-ordinary happens that it seems almost surreal. More shouts, and people started picking up fruits and ceramic objects from the little ships across the way. I could sense some people falling at the front of the line as the crowd surged forward, a mob-like feeling that started to feel --- ahhhhh ---- VERY uncomfortable. It was one of the most incredible things I have ever seen, and I felt adrenalin pumping as I was just inside the doorway behind the crowd, out of the main group, watching, staying as out-of-the-way as I could, and constantly evaluating safety status and escape options. It was exciting, it was fascinating, it was frightening, it was mesmerizing, it was tinged with a sense of danger, it was surreal. I came to learn that the Israeli army does not seem to distunguish much based on gender. They will be as rough with women as they are with men, which was shocking to witness. Someone picked up a white plastic chair (the cheap $6.95 kind you get at K-Mart for the patio – we all have them) and slammed it down over someone – I assume it was a Palestinian from the angle it was coming from, aiming for an Israeli solider. I stayed in the doorway and held my camera up to take pictures and took a number of them, shooting over and over again, until that chair moment. Then, it got a little too intense and I decided to duck back in. (Thanks again, family for the Christmas present.) I don't know if it captures the palpable sense of out-of-control that existed, but I tell you, folks, I now know what a small riot looks like. And when one group is throwing things – hard objects – at another group who happens to have guns ---- it ---- well --- wow. Just incredible. I am glad I was there to see.

(And for those of you I know who are going to tell me I was using poor judgment for going there, and putting myself in possible danger……I know, I know. I also should have put ice on my ankle and taken Advil, too. I just choose to do things a little differently. I think you know that about me by now.)

I will publish a few blogs with these photos….then tell you about the second “protest gathering” that was not as much of a riot as this, but had a few skirmishes, down at the Damascus Gate, where this group ulitmately headed.