You’ll have seen this video of George Galloway storming out of a debate, when he realised he was interacting with an Israeli:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6pVT-p6pwU
I first saw him speak at the University of Leeds, around about May 2007.
He was cheering for Hezbollah, praising the “resistance”, and saying his usual things.
Most people there were his supporters, and I thought that heckling would just get me noticed and kicked out of the event. I went up to Galloway after the talk, and I could see him chatting in a friendly way to people appreciative of his message.
I went up to him, shook his hand, and made sure he was looking at me. With my hand still lightly in his, I said to him:
“There are Israelis dying too, Mr Galloway”
Galloway thrives on public debate and controversy, and a speaking engagement on Israel is theatre to him. But here there was no audience, and I wasn’t shouting at him.
For a moment, George Galloway didn’t know what do. His face fell, and he looked surprised.
He saw I was wearing a football shirt.
“Nottingham Forest fan, are you?”
He asked me, as he broke into a warm grin, and invited people around us to start talking about the beautiful game.
