Orange Disorder

Notwithstanding its association with intransigent Ulster Unionism, the wearing of orange is experiencing a boom as a form of protest. Last year it was the colour of choice for the protestors in the Ukrainian election imbroglio, to the extent that we wondered whether a deep-rooted Irish reflex explained the loony Pat Buchanan's surprising pro-Russian position.

But whereas orange in the Six Counties and in the Ukraine at least had some claim to represent a sizable portion of public opinion, the same cannot be said for its newest adherents -- the Israeli settlers who are refusing to leave the Gaza strip. Here's an illustrative picture, showing how Internet-savvy the settlers are: knowing that the Vast Rightwing Conspiracy has a weakness for protest babes, having two young women in tears at what looks like a cage is extremely effective.

And it's working. Over at National Review Online, some of the loons are aligning themselves with the hold-out settlers -- and therefore against the policies of the State of Israel, not to mention the minimal requirements for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem:

SURE WISH I HAD [Jim Robbins]
an orange tie today [link to another Orange settler photo]

... ON THE GAZA PULLOUT [John Podhoretz]
... It's horrible enough that settlers are being forced to abandon their homes. [to be fair, J-Pod seems to favour the evacuation, though with a weird emphasis on the disrupted lives of settlers as opposed to the awful living conditions of most Gaza residents]