Pro Palestinian marches apparently costing police 20 million pounds.

For the record:

I am saying this as someone who is - these days! - considered a "high-earner"!

Just because I have, personally, made it out of the category of "people not worthy of assistance" does NOT mean I have ceased to recognise how unjust the situation is from a systemic POV.

Protests are not to blame for "crap policing of poor areas" - policy is!

This is not a "but protests" related situation, though!

Although - just to be crystal clear! - it is utterly and completely unacceptable!

I remember being a student, living at around the cheapest possible place you could imagine in Greater London at the time (still a lot cheaper than today!), sharing a one bedroom flat between myself, my then husband, and another couple (we had the bedroom - and the other couple paid less in rent because their "bedroom" did not even have a door).

I also used to have a full-time job at the time, working the night shift to put myself through university.

It happened more than once that I came back [late] from a late shift only to find the police blocking my path home because there had been a stabbing, and I was asked to please wait for an officer to escort me through the crime scene when I pointed out that I, literally, needed to go into the direction that was cordoned off because I, literally, lived there.

One time, the crime scene was the stairwell of the block of flats in which I used to live back then!

Another time, I called 999 due to screaming and shouting from the neighbouring flat - police never turned up (but my [Palestinian!!!] ex-husband and our flatmate intervened and, for that night, at the very least, stopped that bloke from beating his poor, poor wife to death!).

A mere few years later, I ended up living - please do not ask, I got lucky! - at one of these georgeous terraces surrounding Regent's Park. There was some students' accommodation nearby.

One night, as I came home late, I found a collapsed, obviously extremely drunk and presumably not "only" drunk girl on my doorstep in a condition that, being a total non-expert on anything medical, I deemed to be "possibly life-threatening".

Called 999 again! Got immediate instructions as to how to put her into the recovery position, and: some 7 minutes later, first responders turned up - followed by an actual ambulance crew after some 10 minutes! That girl was alright!

Long story short: I have lived in the best and the worst parts of London! And the difference in terms of "what happens when you call 999" has been staggering!!!

NONE OF THIS is "but ... because protests!" - it is more, sorry to be polemic, but I will be here: "the government just does not care about poor people!"

... off topic rant over!

I think it is enough. My concern is the actual police officers diverted from other places. There was fatal stabbing in my area last week. Not a police officer in sight at weekends ever, yet there are all in central London being spat on.
There just arent enough humans in police force to be everywhere until the force is better funded and recruits more people.
The protesters made their point, i dont know why thier point is not to call for Hamas terrorists to surrender, but now they are just intimidating, scaring tourists and londoners away, affecting buisnesses at busiest time of the year.
Not to mention what shit some of them call for. I guess the only positive is that maybe some of those jihad preechers and potential terrorist will get onto police radar to be monitored.

Does it matter if me sitting over in Ireland condemns everything about Hamas? I'm not pro Hamas. I'm not pro genocide. I'm not pro mass slaughter. That's why I think a ceasefire should have happened a long time ago in conjunction with a 2 state solution and the end of Israels illegal occupations. I can't get behind, no matter, who is doing it is the mass killing of innocent people. I don't care if you call it self defence, never in my life will I call the leaving of babies to rot in a hospital self defence. Never in my life will I call the targeted attacks on medics, aid workers, journalist, medical facilities, schools, places of worship, historical artifacts, agricultural fields olive groves and bakeries 'self defence'.

Yes, it does. And defence of any country in the face of even mass murder does require some restraint. But when one country is fighting an aggressive nation state or a large organisation that’s a catspaw for a bunch of headbangers like the leaders of Iran, and that is explicitly committed to its annihilation, well, there are necessary actions.

Well the Israeli prime minister was propping Hamas up for years. Was that necessary?

He may say all this bombing is the only was forward but I’m not sure I trust his judgement.

Yes, it does. And defence of any country in the face of even mass murder does require some restraint. But when one country is fighting an aggressive nation state or a large organisation that’s a catspaw for a bunch of headbangers like the leaders of Iran, and that is explicitly committed to its annihilation, well, there are necessary actions.

I’m glad that you condemn Hamas’s mass murder.

Do you condemn Hamas as a fighting force hiding behind civilians? (Not that Hamas wear uniforms and behave like a usual armed force, rather than a group of genocidal - genuinely genocidal, not like the offensive insult thrown at Israel - terrorists?)

Or do you you think that Israel should just suck it up? Because it’s the Jewish state.

20 million quid for marches with these many arrests and offensive material? Plus the amount of police time handling the arrests? Definitely money that should be spent on other causes.

Just my two cents.

@Bitchassmosquito "You really have to be a loathsome bigot to object to Israel defending itself. Especially after the events that led to its creation."

I agree. It all comes down to the definition of "defend" doesn't it?

Oh you want me to do the obligatory I condemn Hamas? Sure. I condemn Hamas.

Yes. I am saying that people can object to the British government supporting mass slaughter without being antisemitic whether they have protested before or not. Of course they can, the images coming out of Gaza of children left in pieces by Israel as their soldiers dance and laugh would turn the hardest of hearts.

I agree that these marches whilst a nice idea in principle for wanting a ceasefire contain too many examples of anti-Semitism to allow them to continue in their present form without assurances from organisers that people bringing racist placards will be banned or warned that they are detracting sympathy from their cause.

Are you justifying Hamas’s slaughter? If so, why?

Are you saying that people who only turn out on the streets against Israel aren’t antisemitic, despite not opposing publicly the humanitarian concerns with countless other conflicts?

Come on. It’s obvious.

No sensible person thinks Israel has done anything beyond what any other democratic, properly run state would do to protect itself and its citizens in the circumstances.

You really have to be a loathsome bigot to object to Israel defending itself. Especially after the events that led to its creation.

Well what if you believe the Palestinians should just stay in their ghettos or, better yet, sod off to a random Arab state and not come back.

Oh and it’s fine to carpet bomb the place they’re locked into. Of course some of them will die, so sad but these things happen in war.

None of that is sensible.

And i know a large percentage of the Israeli population is as disgusted as me.

You sure about that?

Poll results were also hawkish when it came to the use of force in Gaza: 57.5% of Israeli Jews said that they believed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were using too little firepower in Gaza, 36.6% said the IDF was using an appropriate amount of firepower, while just 1.8% said they believed the IDF was using too much fire power, while 4.2% said they weren’t sure whether it was using too much or too little firepower.

https://time.com/6333781/israel-hamas-poll-palestine/

Seems like most israelis not only support this genocide, but wants more.

By British people or by people that Israel have been in conflict with years? There's nothing at all to suggest that 100s of 1000s of Brits have been sitting at home waiting for a chance to take to the streets to pronounce their hatred of Jews. If British people had travelled over to take part in slaughter you might a point. As far as I'm aware the only British people off to take part in slaughter are the ones off to join the IDF.

With regards the thread title, I'm really fed up with posters here trying to smear anyone who speaks out against a government that is happy to kill over 18000 people in retaliation for 1200 killed. I'm fed up with it all. It actually puts me against these posters and the Israeli government and population where before i had no idea what was really going on. And i know a large percentage of the Israeli population is as disgusted as me. These sorts of threads have really woken me up to the true picture of whats going on, the insidious attempts to smear and label people and ultimately shame them into silence, whilst getting louder themselves. Its not even subtle anymore, I'd say its getting a bit desperate now.

‘Grandiosity’. After slaughter by a group committed to the eradication of Jews. Right. 🙄

Honestly, I have to laugh at the grandiosity of it all. The fact that you think Jews take up so much brain space in so many peoples lives that they would take to the streets in their hundreds of thousands to proclaim their hatred of them. It isn't the most obvious thing, the fact that Israel are committing war crimes and slaughtering 10s of 1000s of innocent people with the support of the British government. No, of course not, people have sat around at home just waiting for a chance to join a 'we hate Jews' march

I mean look at the news right now, a hospital under siege for days, mothers and their newborn babies killed, more babies in incubators at risk of death on top of the NICU babies Israel have killed in 2 separate hospitals already. It couldn't be that, why would it be that? It's far more likely that people just hate Jews 🙄

Hamas kill one baby and you expect the world to be outraged yet in the same breath expect the world to be silent as Israel kills 100s?

Jupistersstorm if you really need to feel good about your own viewpoints , read the comment sections on all your daily mail articles, there all full of people that think exactly like you do!
meanwhile in the real world there are people genuinely horrified about the war crimes Israel are committing against the Palestinian people with the support of our very own government.

Trying to brand the marches anti Semitic is getting a bit tired now.
And yes empathy can extend to both sides. What I can't do is say that what Israel is doing currently or has done in the past can constitute 'self defence'. It is way beyond a measurable response and is creating more issues then it is solving.

Showing support for Palestinian people who are being slaughtered is not in any way whatsoever anti semitic, or pro Hamas. It doesn’t matter how many times someone insists it is.

The marches piss off the racists who hate Muslims.