On Monday night, July 14, I met a friend in downtown Jerusalem for dinner, near Kikar Zion. That same night a mysterious right-wing group had announced that they were going to have a demonstration there, and then march to Damascus Gate in the Old City, under the slogan "We're the bosses here" (כאן אנחנו בעלי הבית). After finishing dinner with her, I walked over to Kikar Zion to observe the demonstration.
The first thing I noticed was the large police presence, mostly from the Border Police - men in blue-grey uniforms carrying batons (in addition to pistols). Across the street there were mounted police. There seemed to be more police than demonstrators.
Then I realized that there was a smaller counter-demonstration on the steps at Kikar Zion, separated from the right-wing demonstration by a line of police
Here's one of the posters held up by a member of the left-wing demonstration.
After watching the right-wing demonstration for a while, and listening to their slogans (and curses), it became clear that it was organized by Kahanists - followers of the late
Rabbi Meir Kahane, who led the explicitly racist and anti-Arab movement
Kach.
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| Notice the man in the center of the photo. His white t-shirt shows the face of Meir Kahane. |
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| From Jerusalem summer 2014 |
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| The man on the right has a circular sticker on the his shirt - with the words "Kahane was right." |
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| From Jerusalem summer 2014 |
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| Two more of the leaders of the demonstration. The one on the right is wearing the "Kahane was right" sticker, the one on the left is holding a Kahanist banner (I can't quite figure out the words). |
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| From Jerusalem summer 2014 |
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| The man in the center of the photo with a blue shirt - it reads "Im Tirtzu." This is a right-wing organization that has fascist tendencies. (The Kahanists are a clearly fascist, racist organization). |
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From Jerusalem summer 2014 |
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A few people gathering at the beginning of the demonstration, carrying Israeli flags.
This is a short video of the demonstrations.
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| From Jerusalem summer 2014 |
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