To think any "pro-Palestinian" marches today should be stopped?

[Beachtastic]

Today is the second anniversary of the 7 October attacks.

Apparently "Students from London colleges are planning a joint march in the capital, while Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bristol and Sheffield are among other cities said to be expecting protests."

In my view, the timing of these marches proves beyond doubt that they are antisemitic in nature, and there is no place for them on our streets.

Do you agree, and if so, what would you like to see happen?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c1wgx5v90vyo

Yes 100% they should be stopped. Anyone protesting today are just awful people.

Anyone protesting is as bad and disgusting as the rabid Hamas terrorists that caused this. So completely and utterly disrespectful.

I think it is insensitive and inappropriate for the protests to go ahead today, and I would like the organisers to cancel them.

However, I don't want to live in a society where the Home Secretary has the power to ban lawful protests simply because they are in bad taste. Unless there is a clear risk to public safety, I just don't think it's appropriate for the government to intervene.

We should not be too quick to give away our democratic freedoms.

I think protesting today plays into the hands of those who want to just dismiss the protesters as antisemitic. I oppose the war and the actions of the Israeli government and support their right to protest, but if they really want to make their point today is really not the day. I do think the "un British" comment is a bit of a joke though, as if we are talking about fairness and respect for human rights I'm not sure continuing to sell arms to a country that is openly flouting International law particularly upholds "British Values".

Protesters are trying to gain as much attention as possible, it's the whole point of protesting - to be heard.

I would normally agree, but why does "freedom of expression" trump the rights of our tiny Jewish community to live in peace here, without constant intimidation?

Delicate peace negotiations are currently taking place, so what do these "protests" hope to achieve? The timing is blatant.

@PurpleThistle7's post above illustrates what life is like here now for the Jewish community. Not to mention the Manchester synagogue attack.

I am not Jewish, by the way. But I was born not long after WW2 and did not expect to see the rise of fascism in our streets.

The “un British” comments are a racist dog whistle

Because “freedom of expression” also applies to you!

I agree with you wholeheartedly and it honestly blows my mind that anyone could think it is appropriate to do this today.

Totally morally bankrupt.

I don't support the protests going ahead and agree it is disrespectful, but this ridiculous statement really shouldn't go unchallenged.

Oh I profoundly disagree with the marches going on today. It disgraceful, but what I have come to expect from this odd coalition of radical Islamists and far left useful idiots.

Should they be banned? My instinct is yes, but with deeper thought, the problem is that we stray into curtailing free speech. Freedom is hard, and this is one such occasion.

That said, these protesters should be policing themselves. It shouldn't need the authorities involved for someone to say "not today, guys".

Yes, but I'm not doing any harm. I think today's protests are.

I'm so sorry. I do honestly think the extreme ones are a minority but they're really loud and very visible.
They definitely don't speak for all of us. I'm ashamed of them.

Hope you're ok.

While I think it would probably be distasteful I also think that people in a democracy should be allowed to think freely.

What I don't understand is why any protest in support of the Palestinian people is Anti-Semitic, or why any criticism of Israel's behaviour is Anti-Semitic.

Surely most right thinking people, from any background are horrified by it all?

Of course the Jewish community should be allowed to live in peace without intimidation, and it goes without saying that the police should come down hard on any expression of antisemitism at those protests.

I'm horrified by the rise in antisemitic attacks, and by the tragic events in Manchester last week, and I would like to have seen the organisers of this protest showing some respect and solidarity for Jewish people in this country. However, I think there is a huge gap between people voluntarily choosing to cancel or postpone a lawful protest and the government stepping in to ban it.

Freedom of expression and the freedom to protest are important. And whatever you or I might think about the timing of this particular event and what that is intended to convey, people do have a legitimate right to protest against the Israeli government's actions in Gaza and/or our government's response to that. Where people cross over from legitimate protest into hate speech, that is where the authorities need to step in and take action in my view. Not before.

There is always a balance to be achieved in these things. The recent Tommy Robinson march in London was incredibly intimidating for a lot of people, and some of the sentiments expressed by people on that march were frankly terrifying. Obviously, the police should tackle individual incidents of hate speech and unlawful behaviour, but again, I don't think the Home Secretary should have banned the event simply because it made many people feel uncomfortable.

You arrest people / detain people / remove their rights (to protest in this case) if they break the law, not because you perceive them to be making a mockery of something

Yes, and the incitement of hatred is a breach of the law @nowinetimeforme

Of course protesters claim that this isn't their intention, even when what happens on such "demos" clearly shows otherwise, but I guess there's always "It didn't happen" to fall back on

I don't know if I agree about it being antisemitic, but common decency should prevail. It does seem somewhat insensitive, and will fuel further division at a time when the UK is already very divided. And no, I don't support Israel bombing Gaza into oblivion either. Those two positions are not mutually exclusive.

I’m not particularly verbal on either side of this political debate but branding any Palestine related protests as anti-semitic seems very manipulative.

”we hate the killing of children”

”guess you hate Jews then!!”

Insensitive - yes
Anti-semitic - not necessarily

I don't think we would have expected the Jewish state to inflict something, so similar to what they suffered, onto others either.

People do have a legitimate right to protest against the Israeli government's actions in Gaza and/or our government's response to that. Where people cross over from legitimate protest into hate speech, that is where the authorities need to step in and take action in my view. Not before.

I agree, but given the timing of it I'd call today's "protests" a form of hate speech.

What I would like to see though is any mention of "globalise the intifada" or "river to the sea" treated as the incitement to violence that it is, and punished accordingly.

The establishment had no hesitation in coming down on the Lucy Connelly's of this world like a hot ton of bricks. Lets see the law applied equally.

'I would normally agree, but why does "freedom of expression" trump the rights of our tiny Jewish community to live in peace here, without constant intimidation?'

Why would UK Jewish people be intimidated by a protest against genocide?
Freedom to protest, freedom of speech DOES trump feelings... which is why we have Pride that homophobes dislike, right-wing rallies that many people dislike and/or actually feel intimidated by, climate change protests that MAGA types dislike because they think there is no climate crisis etc etc

If you start banning the right to protest based on the feelings of others - and to be clear I mean LEGAL, peaceful protest - then where does it end?

Why would UK Jewish people be intimidated by a protest against genocide?

Because those protests have been taking place non-stop for the past 2 years, usually at weekends. Why today, of all days? On the anniversary of a truly genocidal terrorist attack?

If they've happened every weekend, why is the timing of this one "blatant"?