Joe and I are heading down to the peace rally in an hour, to take photos, etc. And I'm watching it on C-Span right now, and I'm asking myself - though I'm not surprised - why is some woman from the "US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation" speaking? And why is she speaking, ad naseum, about the "Israeli occupation of Palestine" rather than speaking about the war in Iraq? She gave 10% of her speech to Iraq and spent the rest of the time railing against Israel?
First off, wrong topic.
Second off, way to alienate most Jews in America, a rather influential group of people we could use as allies.
Third off, way to alienate the rest of us who don't hate Israel, don't hate the Palestinians, and don't feel that the problem over there will be solved by simply blaming everyting on Israel - there's more than enough blame to go around. And in any case, this rally has nothing to do with Israel leaving Palestine, so STFU and stay on topic.
I'm sorry, but as many of you know, I tend to have issues with "peace rallies," not because I have issues with peace or rallies, but because I find myself cringing when I see the substance of them, who's attending, the issues they feel compelled to bring up (Mumia, Israel, trans fats, the suffering of amoeba, whatever). Would it kill someone organizing these events to tell the speakers to speak about Iraq or don't speak at all? Would it kill people to try to present their message in a way that appeals to the majority of Americans?
Oh, and it's not just the peace folks. Big gay rallies have similar issues with invited speakers and folks holding ridiculously offensive signs that, while funny (obscenely funny), are hardly appropriate for a public rally in which you're trying to affect public opinion. The 93 March on Washington, boy did I get an earful from family and friends (and even my doctor) about the coverage on C-Span. The entire country watched women flashing their boobs at cameras, like it was girls gone wild, rather than one of the most massive civil rights rallies in American history. Think, people, think. (Though, I fully admit and acknowledge that you can't control everyone, so some idiot is always going to pull something stupid that the cameras will pick up. Having said that, you do have control over your own speakers on the stage.)
Anyway, Joe and I will head down in a bit and I'll let you know how it's really going. If it's good and effective and sane - like the Latino immigration rally, which was shockingly mainstream (for any rally) - then I'll report it as such.
But seriously, what is the point of doing public events that simply piss people off rather than winning them over? Sometimes I can see the point in doing an in-your-face action, but you have to have a reason, a strategic reason, for doing it in that manner. And just because it feels good, that's not a reason. The goal here is to win, not feel good.
Again, I'll report back in a few hours. If it's a good rally, I'll say so.
MORE: Actually, we had an interesting comment in the comments from a drag queen. I'm serious. They raised a fascinating point, comparing my concern about this rally to the concern that some gay people feel about drag queens attending gay civil rights marches in drag. This is an issue that everyone who runs rallies deals with. Here's the comment, and my response:
Good points. As a drag queen, I always wonder how I should join rallies...if I go in drag, do I attract much-needed attention to a cause...or do I alienate people who hate drag queens? If I don't go in drag, am I sanitizing the culture or looking like I'm ashamed of something? And yes, there always seems to be some clueless person who rattles on about a pet topic that may be important...but isn't topical.My response:
Actually, I'm not sure if you're being serious or not, but I think you are, and you raise a good topic, drag queens. You/we don't want to tell a legitimate part of our community to stuff it because some people find them embarrassing, but at the same time, every one of us needs to think about what we're trying to achieve with the rallies (boobs are probably not appropriate). I happen to find drag queens a riot, so I don't like it when people say they generically find drag queens offensive, or whatever. And at the same time, I don't want to find myself hiding who we really are just to appease the public - I mean, it's hard to deny that drag queens WERE Stonewall, we owe everything to them. But at the same time, will the public understand why drag queens are so important to the culture, both politically and simply because they're a hoot? No. But does that mean we "ban" them? It's actually a great metaphor for trying to work this out.
