I was there and I don't share your optimism. The atmosphere was like a football game. We shout and cheer for our side and sing our school song. They do the same. A few disinterested cab drivers passed between, but who did we really educate?

When the other side departed, they marched as a group, with what appeared to be a police escort. They may not have had a legal parade permit, but that was the de facto result. Wherever they went off to, they made a colorful and unified appearance and expanded the audience for their message, while we stood and talked to ourselves.

The only possible usefulness was that the press could not report simply that there was yet another anti-Israel protest, since they would have had to acknowledge that our numbers equaled theirs. As it was, however, I did not see any coverage at all on the eleven o'clock news on Channels 4,5, 6 (Fox), or 7. There was also nothing on any of their websites as of 11:30 pm.
A quick Google search of "Boston + support + Israel" still pulls up a vast majority of hits to anti-Israel sites and their boastful protestors.

I was also at the Coolidge Corner rally and will continue to lend my presence to any gathering that supports Israel. Via blogs like this our Israeli friends know we are with them, but there is a big difference between doing something and accomplishing something.

Shouting "Hey, Hey and Ho Ho" might make us feel better, and it could temporarily drown out the lies from the Israel-haters. To be really supportive of Israel, however, we need to put our energy into assuring that Israel has everything it needs financially, militarily, politically, as well as spiritually to prevail.

FYI, a radio debate between Ben Cohen of AJC and a CAIR representative, here at Z-Word. The debate begins at the 13:30 mark and ends appx. forty minutes later. A well tempered, well moderated debate with salient points brought home by Cohen and half-truths and flim flams by the CAIR rep; I do believe that's a fair characterization. Serves to summarize some critical aspects of the conflict and debate as a whole.

Also, in the JPost, by Tawfik Hamid, an Egyptian Muslim reformer and medical doctor, Gaza solution is in the hands of Palestinians, one telling excerpt:

"... I ask myself why the Arab street and its supporters in the West never show similarly strong response against Islamic terrorists who target innocents worldwide and explode markets full of predominantly Muslim civilians in Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan, Turkey, etc. When you consider that the Israeli attack killed some 400 mostly Hamas militant in the first four days, the passive attitude of the Muslim world against the terrorists represents extreme hypocrisy. If it truly cared for Muslims' lives, it should have demonstrated in the same numbers and with equal vehemence against the Islamists who murder hundreds of thousands of their fellow Muslims, not to mention the Hamas slaughter of rival Fatah members - women and children included."

What you fail you Israel supporters to understand and see is that you were raising signs against Hamas, but Israel has been killing Palestinian civilians of helpless children, women, and bystanders. You are punishing the whole population of Gaza for exercising their democratic decision to elect Hamas. You continue with your lies promising peace if Hamas is gone, but yesterday Hamas was not there and there was no peace. Why do not you tell the world the truth that Israel has no interest in peace and that you are part of a bigger and more dangerous conspiracy to continue the war between Israel and the Palestinians, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and everywhere there is an opportunity for disaster capitalism? You forget and want others to forget that Palestinians have been shouting their grievances for the past sixty years to be given some justice even before Hamas and other warriors were born, but Israel never done anything about it. You continue to cling to the argument that Israel as a chosen nation by God of the Testaments has an exclusive right to the land, and Palestinians are to go to hell. This is your version of humanity, and you expect others to believe it. There is nothing more powerful than the truth, more powerful than all the politics you now have on your side. You must remember that politics change and tomorrow is not yours. Citizens of this country as well as the world have started to question your credibility and want to know the truth more. This is the tide of the future, are you ready for that? My advice to you if you accept advice from your foes is to return to the garden of humanity and stand up for the truth, justice, and real peace. That would save us all from the otherwise inevitable Armageddon. Most people I know of do not like wars, destruction, and blood shedding, and the voice for peace has a true chance, but peace that is just and equitable. Give The Palestinians their land and stop beating around the bush.

Please do not trash this comment and post it with grace on your website. Thanks.