5 Feet of Fury

Dear Toronto: You can have ‘diversity’ or you can have ‘tolerance’. Not both.

Much like the eternal tension between ‘freedom’ and ‘equality’…

Yesterday, across from the pro-Israel rally:

Taped on a friend’s cellphone after the rally proper. Poor sound, partial transcript:

00:37  Brunette:  “Do you have kids?  …Would you take your kids to live in Sderot?  Would you live there?  Would you, if it’s so safe?”

01:18 Blonde:  “Am I allowed to go to Mecca?  …Why are you allowed to go to Jerusalem if I can’t go to Mecca?”

Police Officers intervene.

01:45  Cop #1:  “You guys have to go to the other side.”

02:08  Cop #2?  “Everything was fine until you guys came over on this side.”

02:30 Brunette:  “Isn’t this nice?  Everything was fine until we came here.  Congratulations.  Thank you so much.”

02:39  Cop #2:  “You’re welcome.”

02:40  Cop #1:  “Are you going on the subway?  You gotta go on the other side.”

02:48 Brunette:  “Am I allowed to stay here or is it against the law?”

02:52  Cop #1:  “Okay, let me educate you about something called breach of the peace.  If it gets to the point where we determine that it’s a breach of the peace, then arrests will be made.”

03:03  Son of Brunette:  “A conversation’s not a breach of the peace.”

03:06  Brunette:  “Is it?”

03:07  Cop #1:  “It is when it creates a problem.”

03:08  Son:  “What problem has it created?  There’s no violence going on.”

03:15  Cop #1:  “If you don’t want it to get to that point, we’re just trying to educate you of what our options are.”

03:18  Son:  “We don’t want it to get to that point either but there’s nothing wrong with discussion.”

03:33  Cop #1, pointing:  “Okay, look, there’s your team [people?] over there.”

03:36 Brunette:  “That’s not my team [people?]…  The gentleman said everything was fine until I came here on his side.”

03:45  Cop #1:  “He was right.”

03:49  Brunette:  “…Unless you take me away somewhere.”

03:52  Cop #1:  “That’s exactly what you want and that’s not gonna happen.”

06:27  Man at booth:  “Free Koran.”

06:38  Passerby:  “Can I have one, please?  I’m gonna burn it.”

UPDATE:

“Kathy, I never realized you are in Toronto…Talk about the wrong home for the breed! ;-)”