Orim Shimshon in Trafalgar Square, where his tiny Israel flag made a big impact among anti-Assad protesters. Photo: Screenshot.

The appearance of a small Israeli flag and a handwritten sign at a Syrian protest rally in London’s Trafalgar Square made a big impact.

“I went to Trafalgar Square with a couple of friends to see how big the anti-Assad protest would be. More importantly, I wanted to see their reaction to my presence (with my sign and flag),” wrote Orim Shimshon, an Arab of Iraqi descent, as a caption for his YouTube video.

The video was uploaded on Sunday and has been seen a surprising 6,000 times in the past 24 hours. “A little flag can make so much noise!” Shimshon said.

He said, “From being called a racist (typical) to a member of the Saddam Hussein school, of course the Palestinian ‘refugee’ playing the victim card, blaming Israel for his supposed plight.”

“Everyone was so angry at what I had, which was a sign saying, ‘A big thank you to Israel for helping injured civilians from Syria.'”

Although the microphone quality was poor, Shimson added captions to the video. In one of his most telling interactions, a young Arab man asked how he dared show support for Israel, whom he blamed for making him a refugee.

Shimshon replied: “How can you be a refugee in this country. Eventually you are given citizenship,” pointing out that only in the Arab world are descendants of Palestinians who left Israel in 1948 still treated as refugees, where all other people are offered citizenship in their new countries.

Commenters on YouTube expressed their support for Shimshon.

Pro-Israel advocates The Israel Network, which recognized Shimson, said: “I’m loving this guy’s work more and more everyday. If only there were a million more like him, a hundred thousand more, even one thousand more, the world would be a different place, I believe. This brave gentleman is Orim Shimshon, an Arab of Iraqi descent. If he doesn’t deserve a million likes, then I don’t know what does.”

Alon Tkach wrote: “Problem is, Israeli advocates are way too quiet. Sometimes controversy and such activism is appropriate. Definitely in this case. These people need to know about the aid Israel has given to injured Syrian civilians.”

Another commenter said, “You got a subscriber just for standing up to such ignorant pseudo-intellectualism. Love the mindless guys who’s like… I’ve never been there but its apartheid. <-meaning he thoughtlessly bought some bad propaganda that a tiny bit of research would disprove.”

Luisa Peress said, “Crazy… but you know what? Israel will continue to help the population wherever it can, not because we’re waiting for someone’s gratitude… but simply because there is NO other right thing do to. Am Israel Chai.”