The cenotaph and poppy sellers

Never thought I’d see the far-right allied with Israel, but here we are. Chomping at the bit to clampdown on wrongthink it seems.

When my Daily Mail reading father said he respected Braverman, I just knew it was because she was a crypto-fascist. An immigrant woman? Not the kind of person that would get his glowing praise unless she was going to stir some shit against the bleeding hearts of the world.

That is completely inflammatory and false . They have been marching each Saturday since the beginning of the bombings for a ceasefire !
The 11th is a Saturday !the bombings are still going on so they will be marching plain and simple.
The root goes nowhere near the cenotaph and is after 11 oclock. Cruella is just trying to rille up the racists once again

True.

There is aggression at the marches

I know this poppy thing will be repeated by all as some kind of see nothing there, but there are many recordings of other aggressive acts

It’s not somewhere I’d go, for that and other reasons

But it’s up to others to decide. I’m sure it’ll pass without much incident

Never has so much controversy been whipped up out of nothing. The fake news about poppy sellers being assaulted have galvanised football fans to turn up and 'protect the cenotaph' despite the Cenotaph having a meticulously organised police security protocol every year.

The talking heads on both sides have convinced many that there are going to be scenes, riots etc, and the whole thing keeps growing. The media are hyping the story and it's become an unstoppable juggernaut. It no longer matters that the poppy seller wasn't assaulted and that the march isn't going within a mile of the Cenotaph.

I’m sure that will change. They didn’t think Hamas would go to such extreme acts knowing what would happen after

And then Hamas showed everyone just how barbaric given the atrocities on October 7th

I don’t think you can reasonably say that. London is very diverse so it depends on your circle. Most people I know support these marches.

I think it could be viewed as disrespectful to hold the march on a weekend where Britain is remembering its own dead.

How, though? How is it disrespectful to say "we want a ceasefire to prevent the death of more innocents"?

Perhaps because it is a remembrance service in Britain??

To honour those from this country and the Commonwealth, who gave their lives in the service of their countries.

The only reason there isn't mass bloodshed in Israel is thanks to a good defence system

But Israel have been criticised for their weak border barriers with Gaza. Hama just walked in.

I do think it's interesting that the March seems to be focused on demanding a ceasefire from Israel. Do they know that Hamas continues to pour rockets on Israel and civilian targets? There was also a terrorist stabbing in Jerusalem a couple of weeks ago and many people in Israel are on lockdown, in desperate fear for their lives as rockets fly over their heads.

The only reason there isn't mass bloodshed in Israel is thanks to a good defence system.

Gaza doesn't have a defence system because, well, ask Hamas.

The reports of an elderly man being attacked in Scotland have been proven fake news. He wasn't attacked.
That station has extensive cctv and police have confirmed no evidence of assault.
There is also some dubiety as to his 'service' in the forces.

Maybe he's confused or maybe he's just a horrible liar.
What is fact is that he wasn't attacked.

I don’t think you can hinge smearing the whole thing on the actions of a few bad actors.

But yes I agree these specific people should absolutely be dealt with.

Thank you!

I've just checked the actual route, and it's going to cause all sorts of traffic mayhem (and impinge on some parts of London where the big protests don't usually go).

For those who may be interested, it is due to start at noon in Hyde Park, going along Park Lane (possibly still inside the Park itself rather than on the road for that bit) then over Hyde Park Corner and then south along Grosvenor Place (the road that runs along the SW edge of Buckingham Palace garden) round on to Victoria Road (ie close to the railway station and its bus station) then along Vauxhall Bridge Road, over Vauxhall Bridge, turning right on to the Thames Path and then on to Nine Elms Road to finish by the US Embassy.

So nowhere near Whitehall!

I don’t think you can hinge the whole thing on a poppy seller

Other videos show aggression

No one will stop you turning up, others will form an opinion on whether they feel it is right

We haven’t banned marches as in France. People will feel differently

I have concern for increasing antisemitism in the U.K., so I will more likely respond to how posters feel in connection with that

Agreed.

Nobody is denying that a tiny minority are causing some problems (many of which are subsequently debunked such as the Poppy seller that was reported as attacked but apparently didn't happen)

Police find no evidence of poppy seller attack at protest despite Sunak's blast:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/cops-find-no-evidence-poppy-31399587

The overwhelming vast majority are marching peacefully.

Smearing everyone with the same brush is problematic and wrong. Including irresponsible reporting of events like the above poppy seller that have no evidence.

In fact I would say these smears are what encourage right wing nut jobs like Tommy Robinson to show up and cause trouble.

Exactly- the proposed route does not go down Whitehall (where the cenotaph is) and the nearest it gets to there is the end. Since the march isn't scheduled to start until after the cenotaph service finishes they're unlikely to crossover.

Of course there are some people who will 1) try to use the march for their own anarchistic/violent purposes and/or
2) try to weaponise it, making out that taking any position on the current Gaza situation is disrespectful to historic war

Saturday's march is organised by the Stop the War Coalition, a well known group that marches against wars everywhere. My husband and I are Jewish and he will be joining the march, which I would have if I didn't have a significant commitment that afternoon,a Jewish bloc is attending and has its own specific meeting point.

Could there be Muslim extremists joining? It's possible. But unfortunately seeing as the police will now have to waste time and energy babysitting right wing thugs thanks to Braverman they'll have less capacity to deal with those individuals who should be come down on hard.

Back to the OP, Braverman pulled the idea of vandalism of the Cenotaph out of her arse, no protests would ever have been allowed along Whitehall on remembrance weekend for practical reasons, let alone the matter of respect, and this one was always going to be on a different route and we'll after the silence. But Braverman wasn't going to let that stand in the way of finding another way to stop totally legal and justified protest she happened not to agree with.

It’s not a tactic to silence people @queenofarles, it is true reporting of what people are experiencing here during these protests.

I’m sorry if that doesn’t fit your narrative. I support a ceasefire, and I acknowledge that there are plenty genuinely protesting for peace. However there are very evidently large contingents with different intentions on the marches too. If you have even looked at photos you would have to acknowledge that.

@queenofarles yes, I have seen posters on MN calling Jewish people protesting and marching against the war some really horrible anti-semitic names (their posts have rightly been deleted), it really is quite something.

It’s the language that Irks me. painting anyone in these marches as rough and uncivilised out there just to cause trouble , suggesting that’s it’s just a certain type of demographic < those out of London plebs>
it’s an old tactic to discourage and silence people.

this conflict has brought out so much hate and racism towards certain backgrounds , so shameful.

I’d say it’s more divided up than that, it’s still skewed.

Eg the DM will show different views, and people will watch GB News. They could be as representative of the area they are in too.

It depends what you access

EasternStandard
**
What you think of as public sentiment will depend on what you look at”

Well yes, obviously. QT always makes up an audience representative of the voting public in the area it’s in.

TBH I would have thought that Tommy Robinson rallying EDL types to protect a monument that the protest route is going nowhere near tells us more about who is looking for trouble.

I hope the march passes off peacefully and anyone using it to cause trouble is quickly dealt with by the police. People marching for peace tend not to go looking for fights.