A-Hava Nagila! An impromptu Israeli choir sings in Covent Garden

There she stood, on Saturday afternoon, one lone woman holding an Israeli flag, to counter-protest the baying bunch of usual suspects who were demonstrating their hatred as they do every fortnight outside the Ahava store in London's Covent Garden. I’ve blogged about these anti-Ahava protests before, but since I last posted on the topic the shopfront was vandalised by anti-Israel thugs who splattered it with red paint, now cleaned up by the store's staff.

Anyway, there the protesters were on the weekend – ranging from a young woman in keffiyeh chic to an elderly man in a sports jacket – to spew out their usual bile. Owing to this time of year for Jews, the numbers of counter-protesters were down, and the only Israeli flag was the one carried by the woman.

But suddenly, lo and behold, there came upon the scene a dozen Israeli tourists, who took the flag, waved it lustily, and sang Hatikva and other Hebrew songs – never has Hava Nagila (“Let Us Rejoice”) sounded better!

The baying bunch of anti-Israel fanatics stopped their cacophony of “Boycott Israel!” and turned to face these avenging angels – whom they insulted with cries of “Racist scum!”, “Leave Palestine!”, and (in mockery of Hava Nagila, “Ahava Landgrab”).

But the victory belonged to the impromptu Israeli choristers. Click onto Richard Millett’s Blog (see my blogroll) for an eyewitness account, photos, and video clips.  Enjoy!