St. Peculiar’s Day
I’ve been going to the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Vienna nearly every year for as long as I can remember. The Saturday closest to the 17th of March is always a fun and joyful event, starting with a performance by a Viennese Brass Band, followed by the Vienna Pipes and Drums who then proceed to march from the the old Schottenstift Monastery to the Burgtheater through the streets of central Vienna. After the parade, musicians, family and friends usually come together in an Irish pub to watch a rugby game and have a pint or four. The story normally ends here, but for me, this year’s events shaped this day differently.
Halfway through the parade, as the band was playing, marching through a narrow street followed by quite a crowd, one of the horses pulling carriages that take tourists around the city centre panicked and bolted, dragging a second horse and the carriage with it, violently hit a wall and got stuck between a building and a street sign. People panicked and ran out of the way, while the band continued marching but stopped playing, only resuming after they had reached the next street. The event ended peacefully, but blood had been spilled with one badly injured, and other traumatised animals in the process.
I didn’t feel like joining the band for a beer after the parade and asked my partner to meet me at MuseumsQuatier, a popular spot just 10 minutes walk away. I got there early and sat on a bench to wait. A couple of vans pulled up, from which loudspeakers and Palestinian flags started to emerge. I was expecting a Free Palestine demonstration to take place, when Iranian (Islamic Republic) flags followed suit. People were holding up pictures of Khamenei and figures of the IRGC that had been killed by Israel and the US. Looking the other way, a small counter-demonstration started to form, with Pahlavi-supporters holding up US, Israeli and the “Shir o Khorshid” (Lion and Sun) flag, symbol of the Pahlavi monarchy. As the latter were positioned just in front of a burrito joint and had obviously not declared any demonstration, they were asked to leave shortly afterwards. To top it all off, the anti-war, pro Palestine but also pro Islamic Republic group marched away, playing Irish revolutionary songs in front of the Austrian Parliament.
So for this Paddy’s Day I say, free Palestine, end war and Sláinte!
