Swiss Embassy Protest

Switzerland's decision to make a $60B gas deal with the near-nuclear Iranian regime -- one which has repeatedly called for Israel's destruction -- is a political act more than an economic one. 

Many around the world find this to be unacceptable. JNI finds it to be worse than unacceptable but abhorrent.

We decided to do something about it...

The protest went smoothly. It was a small crowd but we ended up making quite a raucus, garnering lots of "kol hakavods" from passersby and having a "discussion" with two of the Swiss diplomats from the embassy.

The two employees came out to take photos of us as they stood behind the gate of the embassy. They asked us to move a little so they could get better photos. One of the protesters, Ariel Harkham, told them we wouldn't move, that they could come out from behind the embassy gate if they wanted, which they did.

Ariel asked the diplomat why he's taking photos. He responded that he wanted to send them to the foreign ministry in Switzerland to let them know what's going on. The diplomat approached us and we asked what he thought about the signs we had, which read: "Switzerland: Don't Fund a 2nd Holocaust," "Swiss Neutrality Strikes Again," "How Many Nukes Does 28-40 billion euro fund?" and one in Hebrew.

The diplomat responded saying, "You should verify where you [Israel] get your gas and oil. It's easy to criticize but it's not easy to be criticized." A couple of the protesters responded without missing a beat that, "Believe us, we know what it's like to be criticized, we live in a tough neighborhood [the Middle East]. We've fought 6 wars in 60 years, criticism is no stranger."

The guy tried to respond saying Israel also does things wrong. A protester responded that his only a response was one of moral equivalence. Then another American-Israeli whirled around and said, "That's not even it. Your foreign minister went to Iran and shook hands with a man who's calling for the destruction of the Jewish State. It was an official visit!" Another protester observed that the Iranian president's remarks are casus belli and that Switzerland's meeting with the Iranian head of state is not a neutral act.

The Swiss diplomat had nothing to say at that point. He returned to the compound.

We continued our protest, holding signs and speaking with people on the street and drivers. The response was overwhelmingly positive and supportive.

Week 2
Two police cruisers met us in front of the Swiss Embassy with their blue lights flashing. One of the
officers wanted to speak with a protest
representative. The representative managed
to argue our right to protest in front of the
embassy and not across the street which is where the police (and maybe the embassy people) wanted us.

Drivers honked their horns and a few stopped
to ask us what was up and why we were there.

Again, some Swiss embassy people took photos
of us, this time from the lofty heights of an
embassy photo. It should be noted that the
official refused to take a picture of a sign that read, "Swiss Don't Fund A 2nd Holocaust."

The official explained dismissively that he'd
already taken a picture of that sign.

One of the protesters yelled back, "Next week,
we'll be more creative..."