Peace Kills

This is a funny bit from PJ O'Rourke's "Peace Kills". He was at a pro-Palestinian peace rally in Washington, early 2002, and observed the following:

"A dozen members of the New Black Panther Party marched (in the military sense) into Freedom Plaza. They were dressed in black fatigues, black motorcycle helmets, and combat boots. They scowled and did drill maneuvers, about-facing and attentioning. The New Black Panthers carried pictures of saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. Their picket signs were professionally printed: "The State of Israel has no right to exist"; "The American/Israeli white man is the devil"; "Jihad". They hollered, "Death to Israel," "Holy war, holy war, holy war," and "Kill every zionist in Palestine."

For a moment the other demonstrators were silent. They fidgeted. They backed away. "Excuse me, I'm so sorry," said a courteous Arab-American teenager who stepped on my foot. Then a chant began in the crowd: "Killing is not the answer, killing is not the answer." The chant grew louder. Demonstrators raised their fingers in peace signs and began to press in on the New Black Panther Party. Cacophonous drumming came from the Global Justice mobilizers. They shouted, "No more hate!" A woman about my own age began screaming into a bullhorn: "Jews and Arabs unit!" The New Black Panther Party, with somewhat less military elan than before, marched away."

At least in this one instance the peaceniks actually held true to their ideology!