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It’s not working anymore. The old slogans just aren’t cutting it. The protesters are grayer; the signs are all professionally done now, with few obscenities. What’s on them has been tested in focus groups and carefully manufactured for maximum impact — not to move people but to catch the all-seeing, voracious eye of the camera.
Theprotestersarepropsnow.Thebusinessofproteststakesplaceoffcamera,withactivistspleading,begging,threatening,andlyingtogettheattentionofnewsmedia.InthecaseoftheDNCanti-Israel/pro-Hamasprotests,thehypestartedearly.Intheweeksleadinguptotheconvention,theMarchontheDNCclaimed30-40,000protesterswoulddescendontheconvention.
Anotherprotestgroup,BehindEnemyLines,refusedtogetpermitsandpromisedto“MakeitGreatLike’68,”referringtothe1968conventionwhereriotsdisruptedtheproceedings.SomeMuslimorganizersclaimedtherewouldbe100,000peoplemarchinginanorgyofanti-Israelihate.
Intheend,itwasaspectacularbust.TheBehindEnemyLinesprotestdrewabout75peopleinfrontoftheIsraeliembassy—twicethatmanyne
