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?

I think the reaction to this is just hysterical and for a lot of people it's an opportunity to be racist.

My MIL has just joined a group called 'I hate the Muslims (sic) scum who burned the poppies on Remembrance Day' on Facebook and I am

I think my DH will probably have a word as he hates all this kind of crap. I just have to sit on my hands but if it were any other facebook 'friend' I would probably delete them from my friends list!

I'm with realitybomb. I get angry about people that are actually hurt and killed, more so when it's our own government that's doing it. This is so very, very trivial in comparison.

Using the blanket term "Muslims burning poppys" is wrong. It was 29 people, who are muslims, but are also in an very small minority. It is the racist press who are trying to stir things up. Why are the press giving coverage to 29 people???
Most muslims in this country dont think like these protesters.
There are muslims in our armed forces who have died, fighting for their country. The poppy is to remember them too.

Given that the boy who peed on sone poppies last year. (or yr before? Can't recall) was taken to court, I doubt that nothing will happen.

Muslims burning poppies is so misleading.

Were all the stories about the boy prefaced with 'white Christian boy'?

Maybe extremist Muslims is a relevant tag, Muslims on it's own isn't.

QuickLookBusy

It is the racist press who are trying to stir things up

what about the racist press stiring things up with the paster in America burning the koran?

i think they are entitled to their opinion. This has more to with the fact they dont want our troops in their country and to be fair they never asked us for help. they have every right to say they are angry about it

YANBU to be upset, but IMO it's a legitimate protest. People frequently burn symbols of all types.

of a guy burning a Qran, a Bible and, just for balance, Dawkins' The God Delusion.

Distasteful as it may be, it's part of living in a free society.

Totally legitimate protest - they can be angry and express it in a wholly legal non-violent way. Not everyone will like it or agree but it's part of our freedoms that we should be glad about.
The press stir it up to cause more controversy than it warrants.
One of my kids reported it was all kicking off on FB last night about it, and considered it really stupid: people were straightaway voicing extremely racist points of view against Muslims generally. People like to work themselves up into hysteria and frenzy on this.

Just ignore them. They are doing it to stir up trouble.
The correct response is, "that's nice dear."

Agree the media is a lot to blame, they are stirring up anti-muslim views all the time.

The (tiny amount) of people burning poppies have got the attention they wanted, but the press and others won't be debating the message of their protest. Instead the action of a tiny group burning poppies will incite more hatred against the peaceful muslim majority. There are good reasons to protest against the afghan war (eg civilian deaths) + against islamophobia but their protest was wrong action, wrong day.

reality - its likely that those 'legitimate protests' could only happen today because of the bravery of our soldiers during World War II.

FWIW i've met too many people (friends of friends, colleagues) who say they 'hate muslims / think islam is evil / think the muslims are trying to take us over' just because of a minority of terrorists / extremists.

Those who make these statements are often normal otherwise seemingly nice people who read the Mail / tabloids and only mix with white people.
I have discovered that arguing is pointless. I tend to now say something like 'well the IRA bombers didn't make you hate all catholics did they?' which at least makes people think.

walkingonair - Yes. Which is why they should be allowed to do it. A right to protest that is limited to only protests that don't offend anyone isn't really a right to protest at all.

I don't like it but it is an expression of free speech and they should be allowed to do it. The best thing to do would be to ignore it unfortunately our media coan't resist.

Nice posts LaraJade.

I wish people knew more of our history, like the fact that the Indians raised the largest ever volunteer Army (about a million men) to support the Empire during the war.

Countless Muslims from Africa, India and elsewhere in Asia fought in the war, especially in North Africa and Burma. Muslims were not just defended by British soldiers, they in turn fought to defend Britain and the Empire (and liberate France: there is a brilliant French film tellng that story).

We have so much more shared history and interests than the extremists and the knee-jerk reactionaries would have us believe.

Moderate Mulsims are facing hostility from all sides, and they deserve better from us than being lumped in with 29 attention-seeking agit-prop merchants on a jolly.

It was the 'MAC' (havent heard of them ever) who burnt the poppies and then the EDL who counter protested

Sounds like an old fashioned brawl with a whole bunch of nutters who could have done a whole lot better to just keep theri mouths shut for two minutes

Thanks for your replies. The reaction may be emotional but not hysterical, the two are different. There is nothing wrong with an emotional reaction, everything stems from emotion in one way or another.

I appreciate people have a right to an opinion and a right to protest.

I just find it very distasteful to burn poppies, books, the Koran, flags and anything else that holds significance for somebody.

I am sure it must be possible to protest without totally offending people.

'well the IRA bombers didn't make you hate all catholics did they?' which at least makes people think.

If only that were true. Some of my earliest memories (1970's) are of my Irish parents bearing insults from English neighbours, colleagues and friends, for this reason.

EldritchCleavage

Muslims also fought against the allies in both world wars. The Ottoman Empire in ww1 and Eastern European Muslims fought in the German army in ww2

There is a fine line between protesting using freedom of speech and
inciting racial hatred towards and indigenous population.

I shared this on FB last night after reading some really hideous status' and group names etc.

Walkingonair - Neither Muslims nor the 'indigenous population' are a race.

Personally, I would respect people's right to protest, as long as the protests themselves are respectful. You can protest against things without resorting to hatred, violence, threats etc. Have no time for these protesters just as I have no time for the minority at the student protests earlier in the week.

People usually resort to hatred and violence for one of two reasons: either they are not intelligent enough to lay out their cause peacefully or their cause is not worthy enough to lay out peacefully.

Look at the people who have genuinely managed to change the course of history through protest: MLK, Gandhi etc. They did what they did with respect and rhetoric.

'i think they are entitled to their opinion. This has more to with the fact they dont want our troops in their country and to be fair they never asked us for help. they have every right to say they are angry about it'

If the 'they' you are referring to are those who burnt the poppies, then 'they' are British Muslims, and the UK is their country, not Afghanistan. They need to have long hard think about where their loyalties lie.

The Forces in Afghanistan are there as part of ISAF run by NATO, and there have been up to 42 different nations contributing troops. The ISAF is also mandated by the UN, and yes, the Afghan Transitional Authority decided to invite the ISAF in to help with reconstructing the country, so they did ask for our help.

Those protesting therefore have little interest in supporting what the Afghan govt asked for, but want to stir up trouble.