It was a long time ago that Queen Elizabeth 2 came face to face with the situation in Gaza. She hadn’t been, but it came careening at her on Queen’s Gate street in central London.
It started with a lone girl, and then descended into a confrontation. Ironically, she’d visited the area to speak to a longtime friend about international social justice issues.
The small group that formed around her on the pavement were shouting, and barking different things at her. They wouldn’t let up and she grew nervous because of the confrontation.
She did not shout, and didn’t want to draw more attention to the scene than was necessary. A few police officers were nearby, and she was able to get their help to resolve it, and restore peace.
“The thing was, they kept shouting “Gaza!””, she said afterwards, and didn’t know what the “fuss” was about. After all, she spoke about places like that with her friend all the time.
It wasn’t new to her, or a novelty. She understood the ramifications of all the conflicts, skirmishes, and types of confrontation they’ve had. It was she was just confused by this one.