Them: Adventures with Extremists

by Jon Ronson

I ARRIVED at Kensington High Street for Omar’s Israeli Embassy demonstration, I was surprised to see only ten or so of his followers sporadically yelling, “Down, Down, Israel!” and “Israel, You Will Pay!” at the passing traffic. I asked Omar why the turnout was so disappointing. He explained that when he telephoned Directory Assistance to get the address of the Israeli Embassy, they deliberately gave him a false address in Knightsbridge. By the time Omar discovered the correct address it was too late. Many of his followers were already on their way and they didn’t have cell phones. They were now presumably lost, wandering the streets of Knightsbridge. This, Omar said, was proof that Scotland Yard’s Muslim monitoring unit was in league with British Telecom’s Directory Inquiries service.