to be very cross with the people who are burning poppies?

[SparkleSoiree]

I was just flicking through tomorrow's front pages and the headlines talk about Muslims burning the Poppy today. This has made me really very angry. AIBU or is this just freedom of speech and I need to be tougher?

It makes me sad, but I tend to let these things go over my head, tbh. I am a forces wife, but I accept that other people have different standpoints/ experiences/ views, and they are entitled to express them. But it does make me feel a bit rather than angry

wow. That's so disrespectful

Very angry too. What an unutterably stupid thing to do. Can you imagine the uproar if non-Muslims started burning something that mattered to Muslims? Like the Q'ran, for e.g.?

Well they are idiots. Poppies have nothing to do with religion or politics.

I was just about to start a thread asking AIBU to detest all these facebook groups going on about some people burning poppies. It was 29 people! That is all. A very very small minority of people. I do not condone what they did, but these people are NOT representational of most Muslims. The Muslim people that I know are equally disgusted at what they did. The media/BNP/EDL will be loving this!

Indeed. I just saw some disgusting facebook comments by friends and friends-of-friends on this issue. They too look like morons and should be ashamed of themselves. So depressing.

Well it's twatty, but bear in mind that to burn the poppies they had to buy them.
And it is a matter of freedom of speech. Freedom to make themselves look like dicks, of course, but who'se to deny anyone that?

I feel incredibly sad. I was shopping in a very busy shopping centre this morning and had just bought a poppy from a war veteran minutes before the silence. He was in a wheel chair having lost both legs and judging by his age as suspect he fought in World War II. When they announced the silence, everyone stood completely still. People of all nationalities and religions respected the moment and it was really quite moving. I looked over to the old man in the wheelchair he had tears in his eyes, I almost cried myself. Imagine how he would feel if he witnessed the poppy burning. It?s disgraceful and the people involved should have been arrested for in-sighting racial hatred.

Thing is, if you respond with anger you are playing into their hands- that is what they want-to anger people. I refuse to buy into that. I remind myself that this is a very small minority and ignore.

yes you are being entirely reasonable if you feel that way. But lots of other people don't.

It is freedom of expression, unfortunately. It's highly disrespectful, of course, and I'm sure stunts like this sadden a lot of veterans and relatives. However, I remember November 8th 1987 when an IRA bomb murdered 11 people in Eniskillen attending a service at the cenotaph. Low-lifes with a chip on their shoulder know that attacking Remembrance Day will create maximum shock and revulsion. The best response is not to give them the satisfaction of a reaction.

sexybrunettemotherof5 - agree with you completely. I've attended a lot of parades/services where there have been people of all races and religions disrupting the silence and using it as an opportunity to have their anti-war and anti-military views heard with nothing being done as legally no crime is being committed. What happened was disgraceful but it is neither rare nor limited to Muslims and it is sad that this is the only incident being reported.

FWIW senior management in a school here failed to observe the silence despite being surrounded by pupils doing so....not on the same scale I know but also very shocking imo!

It's only 30 people? We'd be better giving them no media coverage whatsoever.

Worse things happen at sea.

You are NBU for being very cross, hell even Padington Bear get cross. I suppose I can see where the people burning the poppies are going with their protest too though.

YABU for bringing it up and giving it further attention though if everyone ignored these things the media wouldn't harp on about them. Just watch it'll be on Mathew Wright later..

YANBU.

Can you imagine if it were in different circumstances? In another country, another religion, another item of extreme significance comemorating deaths being burnt?

Only in England are people allowed to do things like this and get away with it.

I feel for the poor veterans and families of soldiers who have been killed having to stand and watch these bunch of pathetic twats.

Totally agree with what Starbuck999 said

'get away with it'? Er, what should be done to them?

There is a lot of hysteria about this sort of thing, but if you try to see the other point of view, think about how you would feel about people who are not involved in these conflicts getting so wound up and offended about a plastic poppy being burnt, when you know people who are actually being killed?

This is what the freedom to protest is about, and people will naturally select a high profile day to do it on.. The press reports on this tiny incident because they love to cause a shit storm that supports a racist agenda, and all these Facebook idiots fall into line like lemmings and are allowed to 'get away with it', same as the redneck pastor in the US making world news by trying to upset Muslims, the media did his job for him, like they are doing the job for Jihadists.

Anybody burning poppies would upset me - I spent years living in Flanders and the history is so very "real" there. :(

I think it's quite easy to say you "don't care" if you live somewhere which hasn't been a battlefield and/or your relatives who fought have all died... sign of the times perhaps. :(

YANBU. One of my grandfathers was in the special forces in WW2 Yugoslavia defending Bosniak Muslims + others against the horrific Nazi atrocities there.
More recently, army friends of my sister defended Bosniak + Kosovan Muslims against Serb ethnic cleansing.
My other grandad fought to get the Japanese out of Burma + therefore the indian subcontinent (with its large muslim population). Like his many comrades, grandad respected the locals + supported indian independence from the UK. He was a professional soldier + felt it was right to defend asians against the japanese (their atrocities are less well-known than the Nazis' but equalled them).
If British veterans hadnt fought, then the protesters wouldnt be living in UK (free to protest) and would be speaking Japanese - if they existed at all.