What a brilliant day at the GFI stall and what made it even better is that one after the other, first time visitors to the stall told us that they follow us on Facebook.
But we didn’t hear that from our first visitors today. As we were setting up, an elderly couple from England stopped at our table and said that they had to be in Glasgow today to see their granddaughter and they were really sorry to be missing a Free Gaza demo in their home town. The wife was extremely chatty and friendly and told me, while cheerfully looking at our Israeli flags, that if they’d been at home they would not have missed it for the world and always went on marches and demonstrations for Palestine.
I told her that we are a peace stall and did she believe there should be peace between the Israeli and Palestinian people. “Oh yes” she replied “can I please take some of your leaflets?” I chose very carefully and picked out some leaflets to advance her education about Israel: ‘The Jewish connection to Israel’, ‘10 facts about Jerusalem’ ‘The UK-Israel Relationship’ and a few others that I thought might make interesting reading. She thanked me effusively as I continued my conversation, telling her that the stall up the road that’s manned by Hasan the Israel hater and one that would set up further down Buchanan Street a bit later, do not advocate for peace, they are bigoted individuals who only talk of hate. She looked at the 2 enormous Palestinian flags on Hasan’s stall and asked what they were. I explained that these were Palestinian flags and ours were Israeli flags. She was visibly confused and it just proved to me that people follow like sheep. They haven’t got a clue. You’d think they would at least have recognised the flag of the people that they say they support.
Joe came to the stall and told us that he wanted to hear both sides of the argument about the accusation of genocide that’s levelled at Israel. He said that he’d stopped at Hasan’s stall and asked him if he believed that the state of Israel wants to kill all Palestinians. Hasan of course said that he did believe this and that Israel is committing genocide. He then came to us and asked Tommy and Sammy the same question and told them that he wants to be able to have a discussion with his friends and have all the facts to hand, “so I want to know your response”
Sammy told Joe that South Africa went to the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of committing genocide. The court did not agree. Sammy added that only a court can decide if genocide has been committed and there is no other authority higher than the ICJ. In addition the population of Gaza increased during the Gaza war, despite the fact that Israel could have killed many more civilians if that had been its intent and this was a war, not genocide. Joe said “this is my take on it too”
He wished us a good day and pointed down the road to Pinocchio Pacetta’s hate stall and commented “the left seem to have gone completely bonkers”
Margaret has some really friendly conversations with visitors to the stall. She came to tell me that she’d just spoken to a lady called Anne who told her that years ago her husband had an apprenticeship and they were very short of money. A Jewish man had given Anne a job and used to give her an extra 10 shillings in her pay packet and would also buy food for the family. Anne said that she has never forgotten his kindness and now has an affinity with the Jewish people and their struggles.
And a lovely lady called Betty told me that she used to work in the Homeopathic Hospital in Glasgow where she treated many Jewish people and remembers one lady in particular who used to be the head of Calderwood primary school. She was so happy that I know this wonderful lady and I told her that I will write to her and tell her that Betty remembers her with great fondness.
Simon from Langside was interested to know more about the British mandate of Palestine, so Edward spoke to him and gave him information that I’m sure will be most useful. Simon told us that he knows Mark Birbeck and his incredible organisation ‘Our Fight’ If you don’t know about their work, please have a look at this link www.ourfight.uk and you might like to read this article www.jewishnews.co.uk/cps-ordered-to-pay-caas-costs-over-shambolic-disclosure-in-dropped-case/
Steve from Dumbarton hasn’t been to see us before but he said that he loves to read our posts on Facebook, where we have “interactions both good and bad” So hi Steve, you were definitely a very good interaction. He told us that he used to be a chef in the army and he was meeting up with army buddies today, that he hasn’t seen for 30 years. I hope you had a great time and come back and see us again soon.
Charlotte and her lovely daughter Jordyn from Quarrier’s Village were in town today to find shoes for Jordyn’s wedding in 7 weeks time. Charlotte has been to see us before and both she and her daughter are great supporters of Israel. They stayed to talk to us for a while in the sunshine and told us that their church prays for Israel and they took wristbands and badges before they left.
These are the wristbands that Eddie’s sister Susan sends us from her home in Naples, Florida. She’s such an incredibly generous lady who sends us all sorts of badges, books about Israel, Israeli goods, halva and so much more.
There was an Iranian rally on the Buchanan Steps this afternoon and we had many Iranians who stopped to thank us for flying the Persian Lion and Sun flag on our gazebo, as they made their way up Buchanan Street to the rally. Susan had sent us ‘Free Iran’ badges in her last box of goodies and we gave them away to so many people today, along with Robi’s ‘FCK IRGC’ stickers that our Iranian friends absolutely love and always make them smile.
4 or 5 of our GFI volunteers went up to the Buchanan steps and Thomas, Aimee and Kim, our friends from the Scottish Reform party, came to see us after being at the rally (see photo) and we heard that Kim made a great speech that was really well received.
Eddie has been doing a roaring trade in giving away beanie hats with a Star of David on the front. He bought 25 skip caps to the stall today, also with the Star of David on the front and they were claimed in no time, so he ordered a further 12 while he was at the stall. Much as we all love Eddie and his wicked sense of humour, it was his adorable toy poodle puppy, Rubin who stole our hearts today. His wife and daughter brought Rubin to meet us and I'm only sorry that I don't have a photo of him. Maybe Eddie will post one later.
Our Israeli friend Yonatan laughed and said that people in Israel are told that when they travel abroad, for their safety they should not wear anything that could identify them as being Jewish. They need to come to Glasgow and spend time with us, as people of all religions and none wear hats, badges and wristbands that let others know that they are unafraid proud Zionists.
We met a great guy called Kenny at an event we were at last night. He’s Jewish but hasn’t really been involved with the community or with us at GFI. He said that he’d come and see us today at 12:30 and so he did. And he enjoyed being with us so much that he said he’s coming back next Saturday and will spend the whole day with us. He’s going to be such an asset at the stall as he’s been an ardent Zionist all his life and is exceptionally knowledgeable about Israel.
We met Gad for the first time today and I’m sure that now he knows where we are, it won’t be the last. He’s studying politics at Glasgow University and said that his course has a definite agenda that’s extremely biased against Israel. Gad’s mother is Israeli-Iraqi and during one of the lectures when October 7th was spoken about, he was the only one in the class who had any firsthand experience of what happened, as his friend was murdered at Nova, but his voice was not allowed to be heard.
In addition he told us that the recommended reading before one of his tutorials was the Middle East Eye, a completely biased digital news outlet where one can read about ‘The war on Iran’ and also ‘Israel’s Genocide in Gaza’
Eileen came with cakes today. And what cakes. Our favourite lemon drizzle cake and boxes of chocolate, mint and pistachio cup cakes.
Standing in the sunshine, eating a pistachio cup cake is a truly wonderful thing. Am I tempting you? So come and join us soon and share the delights of great company, interesting discussions and tasty treats. ... See MoreSee Less
