School students marching in support of Palestine

I didn't realise I had. As France made a statement, I'm sure those other countries have too. If you're implying it's a misguided assumption that the marches will encourage terrorism, no, I don't believe they will. They certainly haven't in the UK.

It's funny how when it's minority kids, they're being indoctrinated and forced. When it's white parents, teaching their kids about white peoples wars (Ukraine), its just parenting.
Unbelievable amount of racism, Islamophobia and xenophobia on this thread.

@ChickHenLittle
These protests, as has been said many times, are not pro-Hamas
You are still avoiding the question: why do you think other European countries have banned them?

Wrong quote there for some reason.

Like the six year old Asian kids in a local supermarket made to wear ‘Free Palestine’ hoodies by their mothers. No doubt they received a totally unbiased nuanced explanation of a very complex conflict. And I’m not just referring to the children either.
Equally the young teens a la Shamima Begum being influenced by hate spewing clerics in certain mosques and subsequently being radicalised by online Jihadists.
The idea that an organisation like Stop the War has an influence over school age kids is actually frightening. Nor for that matter any kind of religious teaching either.

And why is Gaza being bombed? What is the justification being given by the govt for allowing Israel to conduct its operation (Israel has the right to defend itself against terrorism).

If Hamas are completely absent from any discussions with children about this conflict then they may well end up like those young people on the march the other weekend who didn't even know that the attack on October 7th happened, and that is what Israel is responding to.

It is entirely possible to argue that Israel has gone far too far in its efforts to rout Hamas and is killing civilians at an alarming rate, rather than simply ignoring Hamas and pretending that there's only one side that needs to cease fire.

Exactly. Why should people chant the obvious? These protests, as has been said many times, are not pro-Hamas.
Anyone supporting Hamas at them (if anyone even has) is not there for the right reason and is the tiniest minority who would be rightfully arrested for supporting terrorism.

You said "I just don't agree with the pearl clutching genocide deniers on this thread that a bogeyman is brainwashing children and forcing them to go on marches. They went with their parents!"

Your post was not aimed at people disputing whether there is a genocide in Gaza, it was aimed at people who are concerned about political organisations targeting children to bunk off school.

It is totally a shit debate tactic to start whipping out phrases like 'pearl clutching genocide deniers' when people disagree with you about what is going on in England. In England, not in Gaza.

This is deflecting the thread again.
Hamas is a brutal terrorist organisation and it’s actions on 7 October must be condemned.
People are marching to swing to put pressure on their government to stop supporting the bombing of Gaza so this is not about Hamas

Ok. Perspective on (for example) the Holocaust? I’d be very concerned about the moral compass of anyone who’s managed to achieve that. Some things don’t lend themselves to perspective. Genocide being one of them. If the Israelis aren’t stopped, the Palestinians are going to be wiped out. That’s enough perspective for me.

I know what a genocide is because I was in Rwanda in 1994.
Please suggest a better term to describe the killing and forced population transfer on this scale.
Your argument is based on relativism and smacks of Israeli government Public Diplomacy.
It is wrong to kill innocent children and it is right to bear witness.

Given Le Pens crew don't tend to go around slitting teachers throats and given they usually make it to the last round of elections, I don't think we can call them extremist to the minds of the French public, in the same way that given Brexit had a majority support, we might not like it's principles but that can't realistically be called extremist either.

But you didn't answer my question about why you think the marches have been banned, in a country where "freedom" is one of the three central pillars?

I think National Front/Rally are the posing a serious threat of extremism in France. Le Pen is in a position of power, there was a time, not really all that long ago, when that would have been laughable.

Given that the marches do not support terrorism, it seems that Macron's logic is flawed if that is indeed his 'real' reason. However, all we can go on is his official stance.

People in France like to believe they’re so enlightened and above racial or religious hatred

I don't believe many people in France think that

Yes I’ve been to France multiple times for holiday and for professional reasons and I work with colleagues who are based in France. I’ve seen the discrimination against hijabi women with my own eyes. People in France like to believe they’re so enlightened and above racial or religious hatred but it’s so obvious they’re not in the way that non-white French people are treated. You just need to look at their social economic status and job prospects. I knew one girl who worked in a client facing role that was strongly advised to change her ethnic sounding name to a more western one if she wanted to succeed/progress in the role.

Macron cannot publicly stand with Israel out of fear of provoking anger in the extremist community that is alive and well in France. As the European country that has experienced terrorism the most directly, I am sure you can see why he would be reluctant to publicly stand against Hamas, but what he can do is prevent marches.

The marches aren't anything to do with terrorism

So why have France and Germany banned them?

That doesn't really add up. The marches aren't anything to do with terrorism.
If anything, the UK protests show that while our PM meekly supports the Israeli government, the public very clearly does not.

@ChickHenLittle
If Macron were against the bombings, I'm sure there wouldn't be the rules there are about the protests..

Macron is afraid of terrorist retaliation in France

Of course? How do you know?

By the same logic, we could say that Biden is against them, but has to publicly support Israel. Or do we only assume those condemning the attacks on Gaza aren't being truthful?

@Desertrose2023 It's okay, I've noticed we have the same overall stance and pretty much the same opinions on einioar threads. 😊

@Desertrose2023
Of course women who wear the hijab in France can get a decent job. Have you ever been to France?

@ChickHenLittle
Of course Macron isn't against the bombings, but of course he must voice the opposite, he's a politician.
My point was about France and Germany taking a tough line against protests

Sorry just to be clear my post above wasn’t directed at you you @ChickHenLittle , I completely agree with you !

Yes, tell that to the Jewish people who suffered two thousand years of religious persecution in Europe followed by a holocaust. or the current day hijabi woman who could never get a decent job in France.

please tell me again how Europe is free from hatred.

Ah given the rest of the post I think you're right! I was only responding to the last part, there were unpleasant undertones to the first part and I'm not naive enough to think the West is a haven free of religious hatred.
I also thought they were referring to the French law banning religious symbols, apparently my brain hasn't fired up properly yet!

If it's to do with banning protests, then I don't agree at all. It's very surprising, especially given that Macron isn't in support of the bombing.