Jonathan Fitter spent several years at sea. When he left the merchant navy, he travelled round the world on his own, during which time he learned to play the tin whistle. He is a busker by trade. In 1992 he began promoting animal rights and veganism at Speakers’ Corner. After a trip to the Middle East in 1998, Jon began speaking on an even more controversial topic: the Israel-Palestine conflict, because his souvenir “keffiyah”, a Palestinian black and white chequered scarf, was attracting questions. He currently supports most policies of the Israeli state. He says he often wears both an Israeli and Palestinian flag to show he has sympathy with civilians on both sides and believes both nations have a right to exist. He describes the strong reaction of Muslim audiences to his arguments and heated territorial disputes between speakers. He likes the freedom of information provided by the internet, but thinks there’s no substitute for face to face debate.