We shouldn’t be letting off fireworks while innocent families and their homes are being blown up

[Banfire]

“When the F-16s come, it is really scary and traumatic. You hear them and then the hiss of the missile and then the big blast, and then you can smell the gunpowder.
“The children are there, terrified, saying exactly this: ‘Let them just kill us for this to end.’

The quote above is an excerpt from an article in the Guardian this morning.

Is it just me or does it seem insensitive that on the 5th November, and for many days either side, we will be lighting up our sky for fun while innocent people, a large proportion of whom are children, are being blown up as if their lives meant nothing.

There are also people in this country who may find the sound and noise of fireworks traumatic. They may have been victims of war, have lost loved ones in this way or are currently fearing for the lives of their families and friends.

Fireworks aren’t fun for everyone.

If you do chose to let off fireworks for entertainment then when you watch them I hope you remember how privileged you are and the impact this might have on the people around you.

I agree absolutely with that but the OP is being ridiculous.

No. Of course I don’t believe that. And my post didn’t say that, if you could be bothered to read it.

I said I understand the sentiment behind the OP, though. And I do, because I’m not an arsehole. And it CAN be jarring to see videos of devastation and dead children under rubble, and then continue with your normal life. Perhaps if you weren’t in such a hurry to be so hyperbolic (about a very mildly written comment, which did not include the words ‘moping’ or ‘self flagellation’ at all, or even hint at them) on the internet then you might understand it, as well.

You can't really correlate the two things - however fireworks are shite and should be banned from public sale. So not sure if you're BU or NBU..

I am completely on board with the concern about problems fireworks can cause for people and pets in a general sense, but to suggest that we are being insensitive because of conflict in another country is preposterous. Perhaps children shouldn't be allowed to use water pistols or Nerf guns because people very tragically got shot somewhere. Have a word with yourself OP.

We have Halloween fireworks in NI, rather than for Guy Fawkes, and some kids near us were caught throwing fireworks at the petrol pumps in the self service station. Stupid wee shits. That seems like a better reason to ban them.

Cancelling fireworks in the UK won’t help one single child in Gaza or Kiev or Aleppo or anywhere else. These things are utterly unrelated so YABU.

We live on patch on a military base, there are absolutely loads of fireworks and the camp even run a fireworks a display. It doesn’t take anybody by surprise that there is going to be fireworks.

It’s been celebrated since 1605 and is an important cultural event in this country, why should we not be celebrating it?

Eh? 😂😂😂

I’m fed up of foreign wars impacting on us here.

In what ways are currently suffering impacts? Are these impacts directly threatening our lives?

This is the peakest peak mumsnet post I’ve literally ever read

Banning them won’t help the innocent victims of Gaza and Israel.

But given the footage, I can see how bangs and rockets might remind some people of the atrocities going on elsewhere. I don’t think ‘noticing’ the parallels and context of the bangs is something to automatically mock.

I think fireworks for home use should be a thing of the past. The noise doesn’t bother me but I know it frightens animals and some kids and adults. And they aren’t great for the environment. But if people want to enjoy them at organised displays then that’s fine and tradition. But maybe not at home and not over a two week period.

Yeah it's just you

Guy Fawkes was a member of a group of English Catholics involved in the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. The plan was to to assassinate King James I and restore a Catholic monarch to the throne. They put a lot of gunpowder under the House of Lords but were betrayed. Fawkes and his fellow conspirators were executed. On 5 November 1605, Londoners were encouraged to celebrate the King's escape from assassination by lighting bonfires. An Act of Parliament designated each 5 November as a day of thanksgiving for "the joyful day of deliverance", and remained in force until 1859. It became the custom after 1673 to burn an effigy (usually of the pope). To this day many English Catholics avoid taking part.

Completely unrelated. There are people starving in the world but I still enjoy food. There are people freezing to death but I still put my heating on. There are homeless people but I still decorate my home for my own enjoyment.

I have to agree with this , it does seem to be at cross purposes when you are hearing in graphic detail about the atrocities in the ME that are understandably touching people around the world, then on the other hand you are celebrating with explosives.
It's not something I would say out loud to show off my virtue and I understand that people enjoy their fire works, but I feel this conflict is maybe one of too many tragic events in recent times and and it feels a little bit like we're singing and dancing while the titanic sinks, so I don't think the op is being wholly unreasonable in their sentiments.

Well it is only in the UK on or around 5th November that this would happen, so not sure why you are posting. I only know that fireworks in Germany and Austria happen on New Year's Eve/Midnight. Doubt whether anyone here (I live in Germany and have spent many New Year's Eves in Austria) will be so "thoughtful".
What about people, who were in the second world war, either as service personnel or adults/children being bombed? Have you ever considered how they might feel about 5th November?
To be brutally honest, the middle east has always been a hotbed of volatile peoples, we just hear about it more, and more immediately, thanks to the internet.
If you enjoy a bonfire and fireworks as a tradition, I see no reason to stop. I am fairly certain that other minorities in the UK are not giving this too much thought or altering their traditional behaviour.

@TeaGinandFags I think people forget that it wasn't really that long ago that quite a few people in this country would have known exactly what it was like to have experienced air raids, etc. We still had fireworks.

I do agree, though, that it's got out of hand now. Home displays when I was a kid in the late 70s and early 80's consisted of a few Roman candles/similar small, fizzing affairs, one big rocket and a Catherine wheel, not 50 massive and incredibly loud things that lit up the sky for a hundred miles. And you could only buy them something like 2 weeks before bonfire night.

@Banfire can you not come back and actually say something to back up your thought process here instead of just passively posting a link from last year?

There have been horrific wars ongoing…Sudan for example pops to mind among many others.

This sounds so ingenious.

100% Agree with this

We like any excuse to gather round a bonfire in the dark, wet days of November, and Christmas was another way to get through the winter. It's not like we use bonfire night as a call to arms.
Sucking the joy out of everyone's life gains nothing but more misery.
Give your head a wobble and try not to think about the origins of the Catherine wheel.

This is ridiculous. What next? We shouldn’t be celebrating Christmas because some families can’t afford to buy presents/ some people have no one to spend it with? We shouldn’t be playing computer games with guns or any violence in? Ban films with loud bangs in? The amount of virtue signalling on here some times is staggering 😂

Awa bile yer heid min.

If you read up on the origins on Bonfire night you'll see why the Catholic nun was a bit slap-happy, something they were very good at!

sorry *disingenuous