Public Demonstrations for Hire

This is in the FWIW file. A young woman from Jerusalem wants to get out of town for a change of scenery but trips over an ulterior motive on the part of a trip organizer. Cute but revealing.

A few weeks ago, I got an exciting email, which read like this:

“A one-day bus tour to the Golan will be held on Thursday, second day of Chol Hamoed Pesach, April 5th. We will visit major sites in the Golan, and finish the day with a central event, including a guest performer. suitable for the whole family. Up to age 6 free.” Reading down the line, the ad said “sponsored by World Likud” the right-wing political party. I thought, what the hell, if they’re subsidizing this, this is great for me.

The price was incredibly cheap - all inclusive including a meat lunch - for $10. I was the first person to sign up. There were going to be around four buses going from my community. Besides I was off work during our entire Passover holiday and this sounded like a perfect trip out of Jerusalem.

But yesterday, I read in the newspaper the following:

“Demo in Golan to protest Saudi plan - hundreds of protesters are expected on Thursday at a demonstration in the Golan Heights against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s adoption of the Saudi plan….”

Oh shit. I had just signed up 3 of us for a demonstration and the ad said NOTHING about a demonstration. It just said “central event” to take place. And because I don’t do demonstrations - neither for left or right-wing causes - I had to cancel this trip.

Perhaps a day trip to Tel Aviv will be more soothing to the soul.

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It's not just in Israel. My guess is that whenever and where ever there is a need for crowds, money can grease the way. I just got a spam email from the Jerusalem Post with a link to this.