Boss, we have a problem.
What happens abroad, does affect us at home.
With the conflict in Israel and Gaza continuing, several thousand people have taken to the streets in NYC to demonstrate and show support for their fellow citizens abroad in Israel and Gaza. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has spread outside its borders creating a dangerous situation in the U.S.
I found myself in the middle of such turmoil last week at a Pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement in New York City. I was put in charge of a large group of Pro-Israeli demonstrators who were gathering to counter-demonstrate the Pro-Palestinian demonstrators at several news media buildings in Manhattan. The two groups were given separate staging locations in order to avoid meeting each other and avoid unnecessary conflict. This in theory is a good plan but when you have a subway stop at your protest locations, anyone can exit the subway, especially groups who are not supposed to meet each other!
I had set up my demonstration pen, as per orders from my superiors at Columbus Circle, a very large subway transit hub in Manhattan. Two blocks away, at 58th street and 8th avenue, the Pro-Palestinian group had been given instructions to gather there for their protest. As protestors began to arrive by subway and exit the subway stops, we began to find that several protestors were inadvertently reporting to incorrect protest locations, ultimately entering the lions den of one another’s protest pens! Transit police officers were quickly dispatched to the subway to attempt to guide and direct protestors to their correct staging locations. This was a difficult task to accomplish at rush hour in NYC.
As the crowds began to arrive and fill up the holding pens, things began to heat up. This protest was very, very intense. It certainly was not your average protest, which was evident by the different officers who were ordered to report for this large protest. Reports had come in that day that an Israeli soldier had been kidnapped by Palestinians in Gaza, which made our jobs that much more difficult to do.
The speaking engagements were scheduled to start at 6:00PM, at both protest locations. By 5:45PM, the pens were filled to maximum capacity. On several occasions, opposition agitators would arrive to attempt to disrupt the guest speakers at my protest area. Officers would do their best to get ahead of the curve and break them apart, sending the agitators on their way, warned and admonished.
As the few remaining protestors straggled into the pens after their 9x5 jobs, they would put their bag down next to them. The speakers began to address the crowds, everyone listening attentively. After about 15 minutes into the protest, I noticed the crowd began to separate. An officer stationed nearby waived for me to come over fast. As I was walking over, protestors (one named Laddy) began to tell me about an unattended bag. I arrived at the scene, and the officer said, “Boss, we have a problem”. At the scene, we had a large bag, which no one was claiming ownership to. Unattended bags are taken very seriously. After several brief moments of alerting other officers as to our situation, we canvassed the crowd for a possible owner of the bag. Sure enough, the bags owner arrived and verified that this was his bag. The contents were deemed harmless and the situation was corrected for the time being.
Something was not sitting well with me with this protest. It was unique from other protests. I was struck by the intense hatred by the Palestinian protestors against the Israeli protestors. Vehicles waiving Palestinian flags would drive around the area honking horns and yelling “death to Israel”. What also complicated matters was the presence of these groups within eyesight and earshot of one another. Ultimately, we decided to request bomb sniffing dogs to both protest areas to scan the crowds for potential bomb devices. This was not a usual occurrence at a protest and this was not your usual protest!
This situation compared to other unattended bags/suspicious packages was the response from the Pro-Israeli demonstrators. I was immediately struck with how well prepared the demonstrators were. They knew immediately, how to react to an unattended/suspicious package. In my years of dealing with suspicious packages/devices in NYC, most New Yorkers would step over the device or kick it to move it out of the way! It was obvious the Israeli’s knew instinctively what to do…clear the area without waiting for police instruction.
Due to the tense situation at hand, I learned quite a bit from this protest. Israeli’s and Palestinians are use to dealing with and responding to suspicious packages even outside their own countries. They live fear and suspicion on a daily bases. In Israeli cities, customers entering gated urban cafés open their handbags for armed security guards and parents circumnavigate feared neighborhoods to deliver their children safely to school. Suspicious objects appear to be everywhere, as Israelis internalize the state’s vigilance for signs of potential suicide bombers. This does not happen in America. American citizens at times find it unconstitutional and object to being searched on a routine basis, absent the large scale, public events such as New Year’s Eve in Times Square. As the middle east continues to disrupt in violence, the U.S, a strong supporter of Israel, had better be on high alert, especially at protests.
